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Life and Adventure 




1 EMPIRE OF JAEAnI 




ILLUSTRATED FROM ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS. 



^ 



BY E, WARREN CLAR. 




AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. 



COPYRIGHT, 1878, 
BY AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 







PREFACE. 



If the young folks for whom this book is prepared find 
in it as much pleasure as the author has experienced in wri- 
ting it, the labor will prove well bestowed. 

Japan is an interesting country, and peculiar fascination 
may be found in studying its people and watching the ever- 
changing scenes in this beautiful " island empire." 

The author resided four years in the country (1871-1875), 
in the service of the Japanese government ; two years were 
spent at the city of the exiled Tycoon, and two at the mod- 
ern capital of the Mikado. 

This book is a simple narrative of his experiences and 
adventures, presented from a Christian standpoint, and re- 
flecting the novel phases of Japanese life and character with 
which he was daily brought in contact. 

The story will explain itself and needs no introduction. 

The book, though intended primarily for the young, will 
be appropriate and acceptable to "children of a larger 
growth," who will find in it a permanent record of religious 
and political events that have recently transpired in^'that 
once-secluded land which now lies nearest our western shore. 

The illustrations are taken from original photographs, 
and no pains have been spared in making the pictures at- 
tractive and true to the subject. 

The outline map will help the young reader in locating 
the places of interest described. The original copy of this 
map was kindly given to the author by his friend and fellow- 
traveller, Mr. W E. Griffis ; only a few Japanese names have 
been used, which can easily be understood and remembered. 









-4- 



CHAP. I. First Sight of Japan PAGE 7 

CHAP. II. A Journey on the Tokaido 17 

CHAP. III. Life in a Buddhist Temple 35 

CHAP. IV. Life in a Feudal Castle 53 

CHAP. V. Excursions and Comical Experiences 74 

CHAP. VL The Ascent of Fuji-Yama 96 

CHAP. VII. Removal to Tokio 128 

CHAP. VIII. Rambles about the Capital- 147 

CHAP. IX. A Peep into the Mikado's Palace 170 

CHAP. X. A Trip to Kioto i?7 

CHAP. XL The Missionary Outlook 215 

CHAP. XIL Farewell to Japan 231 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



The New House on the Castle Moat Frontispiece 

Map PAGE 

A Japanese Junk 8 

The Tokaido, or Public High Road i6 

Dai-Butz; the Bronze Idol, 50 feet high 20 

Lake and Village of Hakone - 24 

Japanese Hotel in the Hakone Mountains 28 

Temple Gateway 36 

School House at Shidz-u-o-ka — - 44 

Buddhist Temple and Pagoda 50 

The New House with the Castle Grounds 58 

Man Pounding Rice 76 

Mode of Sleeping 80 

Fuji-Yama, the Matchless Mountain, 11,500 feet high 96 

Gathering Tea-leaves ; Fuji-Yama in the Background 120 

Heating and Firing the Leaves — 4 views 124 

Sifting and Sorting the Leaves - 126 

The Kaisei Gakko, or Imperial College - 140 

Entrance of the Kaisei Gakko - 144 

Tower and Moat of the Tokio Castle 14S 

Tomb of the First Tycoon 150 

The Home in Tokio 162 

Suruga-Yashiki, and College Building 166 

The Mikado in Modern Dress 172 

The Empress in Court Costume 176 

Representative Classes of Society 180 

A Japanese Gondola 196 

Riding in a Kango - - 210 

Mode of Carrying the Baby 214 

American Mission Home 220 

The Lord's Prayer in Japanese 228 

Japanese Summer House and Garden 244 




. ONUNCIATION 

^y^y^ letter is sounded J 
as in falher^ 

„ „ bona, 
^ ft tf <junv. 



Life and Adventure in Japan. 



CHAPTER I. 

FIRST SIGHT OF JAPAN. 

At early dawn on Wednesday, October 25th, I 
looked out of my state-room window from the 
steamer Great Republic, and lo ! the snow- 
white dome of Fuji-Yama, the *' Matchless Moun- 
tain'' of Japan, rising like a temple of beauty 
above the clouds and mist ; and as I caught sight 
of it the sun rose higher and higher, causing the 
mountain to brighten up, and its face to smile a 
welcome to us in our approach to the old, old 
world. 

Slowly we steamed up the great bay of Yedo, 
passing verdure-covered cliffs, rocky promontories, 
and small islets clothed in brightest green, while 
here and there the thatched-roof cottages of the 
fishermen were scattered along the shore. 

A slight breeze rippled the surface of the water. 



8 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

and Japanese junks came scudding by under full 
sail. The junks had low prows and ver)^ high 
sterns, with broad sails sometimes made of mat- 
ting or bamboo, and having large characters in- 
scribed on black bands of cloth, with which the 
main-sail was ornamented. The cargo of the junk 
was carried amidship, with a bamboo roof built 
over it ; and not a particle of paint appeared on 
the whole craft. The junks came quite near 
the steamer, dashing the spray from their low 
prows, and rocking violently in the rollers left in 
the wake of the Great Republic. 

With the captain's permission I brought my 
new flag on deck, presented by friends far away, 
and up went my bright star-spangled banner in 
place of the ship's dilapidated ensign, and it 
flapped and fluttered proudly from the stern of 
the steamer. 

As we passed vessel after vessel of various na- 
tionalities lying at anchor in the harbor, that flag 
was saluted with respect — German, Italian, Eng- 
lish, French, Dutch, and other ships dipped their 
colors as we went by, and only ceased when the 
signal-gun from our steamer announced that we 
had made fast to our moorings in Yokohama Bay. 

Swarms of little skiffs surrounded us, sculled by 
nearly naked Japanese, with brawny arms and 
brown skins. Dropping into one of these boats, I 



FIRST SIGHT OF JAPAN, 9 

made for the shore. Alone I wandered off, and 
peculiar were my feelings as I wended my way 
among the strange sights and people. 

It is said that the sounds of a place first attract 
the stranger's attention, and so it was here. I 
heard an unearthly shout or yell, repeated in quick 
and regular succession, and turning down the 
street I saw a line of rough wooden carts drawn 
by strong coolies, who tugged away like horses 
and gave these guttural yells in keeping step with 
each other. 

Boxes of tea were piled on the carts, and as I 
passed by the stone houses on a side street I 
could smell the sweet aroma of the tea that was 
being ** re-fired *' within, and hear the merry prat- 
tle in a strange tongue of the tea-girls as they sang 
together and stirred the tea-leaves on the hot cop- 
per ovens. 

Taking a straight street to the left, I passed 
through a portion of the foreign settlement, which 
was substantial and comfortable, and came to a 
bridge crossing the canal. On ascending a steep 
flight of steps I reached the top of ** The Bluff,*' 
where many English and Americans live ; from 
this point a beautiful view spread before me of 
the bay, shipping, city, and the native town of 
Yokohama. 

I met many kind friends at the American 



TO LIFE IN JAPAN. 

Mission Home, a beautiful building on *'The 
Bluff/' where Japanese girls are instructed in 
Christian truth, and where the first Sunday-school 
in Japan was established. 

After a few days the Japanese officials arrived 
at Yokohama who were appointed to conduct me 
to their distant province in the interior of the 
country. 

I had engaged to go to the city of Shidz-u-o-ka, 
one hundred miles south-west of To-kio, to take 
charge of a scientific school there, and teach the 
Japanese in chemistry, physics, and other branches 
of study. I was to be liberally paid by the Jap- 
anese Government, who were also to furnish my 
horses, guards, interpreters, philosophical appara- 
tus, attendants, and give me a large temple in 
which to live. Thirteen long articles, written in 
Chinese, Japanese, and English, and forming three 
imposing-looking books, constituted the ** con- 
tract" or agreement made between us for the 
space of three years. 

But when I came to sign the agreement, I 
found that the ** Dai-jo-kan*' — as the Council of 
State is called — had slyly inserted a clause forbid- 
ding me to teach Christianity, and binding me 
to silence on all religious subjects for a space of 
three years. Many reasons prompted me to ac- 
cept, and some of my friends urged me to sign the 



FIRST SIGHT OF JAPAN, II 

contract as it was. The interpreter said, '' Sign 
the promise ; but when you get way off in the 
country you can break it and teach w^hat you 
please.'* Others said, ** Sign it, or you will lose 
$300 a month, and all your good chances besides ; 
some mere adventurer may get the position, who 
will do the people more harm than you can do 
them good." 

It was a great dilemma, for I had spent all my 
money in coming to Japan and getting ready to 
go into the interior, and were the contract to fail 
I should find myself in a tight place. 

Nevertheless I determined to stand firm on the 
principle at stake, and sent word to the govern- 
ment that unless the objectionable clause was 
withdrawn, the contract could not be accepted. 
''It is impossible,'* I added, ^'for a Christian to 
dwell three years in the midst of a pagan people, 
and yet keep entire silence on the subject nearest 
his heart." 

To my surprise an answer was returned after 
three days, saying that the clause against Chris- 
tianity should be stricken out ; and the messenger 
who brought m: the news exclaimed, ** You have 
conquered, and have broken down a strong Jap- 
anese wall. Now you can also teach us the Bible 
and Christianity !" 

I mention this to show that it pays to hold fast 



12 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

to the right, at whatever apparent cost ; for, in- 
stead of thinking less of me, or being vexed at my 
obstinacy, the Japanese officials were more friend- 
ly than ever, and respected the ''pluck*' dis- 
played. 

They immediately advanced all the necessary 
funds to meet the heavy expenses incurred, and 
were so liberal and polite as to excite my grati- 
tude and astonishment. Under their kindly 
assistance I was soon ready to start on the long 
journey. 

But never before had I so many things to think 
of at once. Not only had I the care of perfecting 
my official arrangements, but I had all the minute 
details of ** first going to housekeeping*' beyond 
the range of civilization. 

Imagine yourself preparing to keep house where 
a real house was never known ! Imagine yourself 
endeavoring to furnish said house where furniture 
was never heard of ; where bedsteads and beds 
and carpets and stoves were never seen ; where 
mirrors and windows and chimneys and coal had 
not even been dreamed of. Imagine yourself go- 
ing to live a certain number of years in said house 
and place. The probability is you would want 
something to eat during your sojourn ; but there 
beef-steaks and mutton-chops are unknown, a loaf 



FIRST SIGHT OF JAPAN, 13 

of bread is a myth, and milk, butter, and cheese 
are fairy tales. 

Perhaps now and then you would like to know 
the time of day. But no town-clock ever strikes 
to inform you, no chronometer exists by which to 
set your watch when it stops, no almanac to tell 
the day of the week or month when you have 
forgotten them. In fact I frequently did forget 
the day of the week, and once kept the scientific 
school waiting several hours for me, supposing it 
was Sunday ! After that I thought of cutting 
notches in a stick every day, after Robinson Cru- 
soe's fashion ; and when my watch stopped I 
would set it by a sun-dial, which I made with two 
sticks, a compass, and a string. 

Na-ka-mu-ra was the name of one of the officers 
sent from the province where I was going ; and 
although he was the most noted scholar of Chinese 
literature in Japan, he was as simple as a child, 
and quite amusing in his use of broken English. 
He called at the Mission Home to see me one 
day, while I was off making some purchases, and, 
as he awaited my return, the children of the 
Home volunteered to entertain him. ** They 
take out several cards,*' he wrote, ** singing the 
songs which are written on them'' (Sunday-school 
hymns), ** then passing the biblical pictures, very 



14 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

fine, to me, they said, * While you look at them 
Mr. Clark will soon be returned. ' The girls again 
merrily explained them to me, saying, * This is 
John the Baptist,' * This is dove,' * This is Jesus,* 
' This is Abraham sacrificing his son, ' and the like. 
During one hour I feel myself to get some advan- 
tage from the surrounding children." 

Not long after this Nakamura boldly pre- 
sented a memorial to the imperial government 
suggesting that they build a Christian church in 
Tokio ! in order that Japanese subjects might 
have an opportunity of being instructed in the 
truth. Of course the government did not quite 
see it in that light. Nakamura was appointed 
to go abroad with the Japanese embassy then 
starting for America, but he declined, saying that 
he had once lived in a Christian country — England 
— without learning Christianity, and now he 
wished to retire to his own province and study 
religious subjects with his new foreign teacher. 
He was subsequently my warmest friend and most 
intimate companion ; he became a devout Chris- 
tian under the instruction of my Bible-class, and 
frequently would sign himself, ** Your most hum- 
ble servant, and to be your future and forever 
friend in the spiritual world/' 

On my last Sabbath in Yokohama I attended 
the little chapel where foreigners are accustomed 



FIJ^ST SIGHT OF JAPAN, 15 

to assemble, and listened to an interesting sermon 

from Rev. Mr. H , a missionary of North 

China. It was communion service, my first in 
Japan, and the last that I should have for a long, 
long time, as I was going where there were no 
Christians. On returning from church I wrote 
home, saying : 

'*The more I enjoyed the service, the more 
vividly it brought upon me the realization of the 
keen deprivation I am to suffer in being cut off 
from all holy associations, and how I shall long for 
the strength gained from Christian sympathy and 
the sound of the Gospel. 

** You can scarcely imagine the impressions of 
one fresh from a Christian land at the first view 
of the heathenism of which he had heard but never 
seen. There is no more Sabbath here than if the 
Ten Commandments were never written. The 
sounds of labor are heard in every direction, and 
sin and corruption abound in their worst forms. 
Instead of church bells, I hear ever and anon the 
deep, prolonged sound of the great bell of the 
heathen temple, as it strikes to announce that 
another soul has entered to bow down to the idol. 
Instead of sacred music, I hear fire-crackers in an 
adjacent Chinese burying-ground, where worship 
is going on to the spirits of the dead. As I visit- 
ed the temples of Yedo the other day, and saw 



1 6 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

the hundreds of human beings prostrated before 
their images and calling upon their gods, it did 
seem to me the most pitiable sight I ever wit- 
nessed ; and as I moved among the millions in the 
great capital of Japan who never heard the name 
of Christ, it seemed too solemn to be true. Pos- 
sibly I may become so accustomed to heathenism 
and its accompaniments as not to feel their pain- 
ful reality, but I trust I may never lose the earnest 
desire to turn these poor deluded souls from their 
errors. * ' 

On the following Monday the horses and 
guards appeared at the door, and as my furniture 
and freight had been sent by sea on a Japanese 
junk, I bade farewell to all my new-made friends 
at Yokohama, and started off with the guards to 
encounter the strange experiences and adventures 
of life in the heart of Japan, 



CHAPTER II. 

A JOURNEY ON THE *' TOKAIDO/' 

The great public thoroughfare of Japan is 
called the ** To-kai-do/' It is several hundred 
miles in length, and passes along the sea-shore 
and over the mountains, connecting the ancient 
capital, Kio-to, near Lake Biwa, with the modern 
capital, To-kio, at the head of Yedo Bay. 

The road is flanked on either side with venera- 
ble pines, which have shaded generations of trav- 
ellers and pilgrims who have passed to and fro 
through this beautiful country. Near the sea- 
shore it is protected by earthen embankments, 
and over the steep declivities of the mountains it 
is paved with stones. It runs through innumera- 
ble villages and towns, and its way-side is the best 
possible place to study the country life and char- 
acter of the people. 

Here you may meet the two-sworded ** Sa- 
mou-rai," as the military gentlemen are called who 
wear long sharp swords thrust in their belts, and 
who sometimes look very fiercely at foreigners, 

3 



1 8 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

whom they do not love overmuch for invading 
the sacred seclusion of their country. Here you 
meet the farmers also, carrying their produce to 
market, and the coolies, trudging along with 
their burdens suspended from the ends of a pole 
carried on the shoulder. 

Here you meet bands of pilgrims clothed in 
white, wearing broad bamboo hats, and carrying a 
small bell in one hand and a long staff in the 
other. On the staff were strips of paper prayers, 
and the little bells tinkled continually to call the 
attention of the gods to the prayers while the 
pilgrims were on their journey to the various 
heathen shrines. 

The country people were very polite, and as we 
passed them on the road each one would bow 
and exclaim, ** 0-hi-o !** (Good-morning). The 
children would also nod their little heads politely, 
and touch their foreheads as a mark of respect. 

In passing through one of the towns on the 
** Tokaido'* — shown in the accompanying picture 
— we saw a long ladder standing upright at the 
side of the street, upon which a man climbed 
whenever the fire-alarm sounded. The houses 
were simply wooden shanties, with paper sliding- 
doors, and when they caught fire, as they fre- 
quently did, the man on the ladder would shout 
to his neighbors, and they would run together and 



A JOURNEY ON THE '' TOKAIDOr 19 

pull down the house, instead of attempting to ex- 
tinguish the flames. 

On the road-side a stream of water is seen, 
which the natives use in cooking and washing. 
The open space in front of each house is used for 
drying fish, sifting grain, and also for sunning the 
babies and children who swarm by the road-side, 
and who use this space frequently for a play- 
ground. 

The mountain Fuji-Yama is seen in the dis- 
tance. 

We turned aside a few miles to visit ** Dai- 
Butz,*' the great bronze idol of Japan, which is 
about fifty feet in height. It stands near the for- 
mer site of an ancient city of great historic inter- 
est, but which passed away some centuries ago, 
leaving scarcely a vestige behind, except this idol 
and a large temple. 

The colossal image represents Buddha sitting in 
a large lotus-lily, in the state called '* nir-vana,'* 
which is a kind of divine sleep or unconsciousness. 
This is the heavenly state which the devout 
Buddhist hopes to attain. Not a heaven of holy 
activity and of joyous worship, but a sleep of eternal 
unconsciousness, an absorption into Buddha ! Yet 
there is certainly something very peaceful and 
even beautiful in the expression of repose on that 
bronze face, and I do not wonder that multi- 



20 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

tudes of the ignorant pilgrims worship it with 
awe. 

In front of the image are two vases containing 
large bronze lotus-HHes with expanding leaves, 
and between the vases is a bronze brazier where 
incense may be burnt. Dai-Butz is very imposing 
without, but he is entirely empty within ; for you 
may go inside of him, by passing through a small 
door, and find his hollow form lined with shelves, 
on which small gilt images are ranged. His ears 
are very large, as all ears are on idols, and his 
massive head is covered with concentric rows of 
snail-shells, which gathered there to protect his 
sacred person from the sun when ^in mythological 
times) he rose from the sea. 

After studying the image as a work of art, I 
climbed up into his capacious lap, and sat upon 
one of his thumbs, which were placed together in 
a devout attitude. Here I began to sing the long- 
metre doxology, to the astonishment of the priest 
standing below, who could not understand the 
words, and wondered what the matter was ! A 
year after this I sang the same hymn in Dai- 
Butz's lap, with half-a-dozen other people ; and 
we told the priest we were praising the TRUE 
God, that the time was at hand when idolatry in 
Japan was going dov/n, never to rise again, and 



A JOURNEY ON THE '' TOKAIDOr 21 

that even Dai-Butz would no longer be wor- 
shipped. 

Not far from this great image is the beautiful 
island of In-o-shi-ma, close by the shore, where 
shrines and temples are found embowered among 
the trees high up on the rocky cliffs, and where 
you may descend to submarine caverns, to reach 
which I had to swim around the rocks and allow 
myself to be swept into a dark and dreary cavern 
by the waves. Here a naked priest stood by a 
stone altar. On the ledges of the rock, where 
the surf rolled and dashed high in the air, little 
Japanese urchins were diving for pennies in the 
deep green water, protected by the grottos 
formed at the foot of the cliff ; they would catch 
a penny when thrown into the water long before 
it reached the bottom. 

We spent the first night at a large city on the 
Tokaido, and the next morning found us gallop- 
ing along the level road leading towards O-da- 
wa-ra, a city at the foot of the Ha-ko-ne moun- 
tain pass. The whole journey to Shidz-u-o-ka 
required five days, for you must remember there 
were no steam-cars, coaches, or modern con- 
veniences of travel. Besides, I very soon found 
that it was to be a journey of Japanese etiquette 
the whole way. As we approached the province 



2 2 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

where I was to live, whole villages appeared spe- 
cially prepared for my reception. The native offi- 
cials would come out to meet us, dressed in flow- 
ing robes, and salute me in the way they used to 
receive the dai-mios, or distinguished princes, in 
olden times. Although they were two-sworded 
men of rank, they would kneel in front of our 
horses and bow their heads to the earth, heaving 
a deep sigh of respect that sounded like a minia- 
ture typhoon ! 

These Yaconims, or officials, would escort us 
on foot through the whole length of the dis- 
trict under their jurisdiction, picking up any stray 
straw or stone that happened in the way, and mo- 
tioning all carts and traffic to the side of the road 
with a wave of authority that made all plebeians 
drop on their knees at once, and keep there until 
our august presence was passed. 

It tickled my Yankee glee not a little to touch 
up the horses now and then, causing these sedate 
officials to perform feats of pedestrianism such as 
they had scarcely before attempted. They took 
it in good part, and I usually favored them with 
an extra ** smile'' for their pains. If I started on 
a brisk trot, however, and shouted, ** Sai-o-na- 
ra!** (Good-by), they would fall at once on their' 
faces, keeping their heads bowed between their 
hands until we had disappeared from view. 



A JOURNEY ON THE '' TOKAIDOr 23 

At the next village we would have to go 
through the very same formalities, until, after a 
dozen or more were passed, it became rather mo- 
notonous. Whole neighborhoods were thrown into 
agitation by the arrival in their midst of such a 
strange-looking creature as the '' foreigner,*' and 
I was evidently as great a curiosity to the people 
as they were to me. Long lines of awe-struck 
faces presented themselves at every window and 
door and crevice, and crowds of women and chil- 
dren thronged the narrow lanes as we galloped 
through the principal street, making the old town 
echo. with the clatter of our horses* feet. 

On crossing the Hakone range of mountains it 
became necessary to change our horses for pecu- 
liar vehicles called **kan-gos,** carried on men's 
shoulders. The *' kan-go" is like a broad cane 
chair without legs, slung securely on a thick pole, 
and in which you must squat, with the happy 
alternative of breaking your neck above or twist- 
ing your legs out of joint below. How to get 
into it was a mystery, so I just gave a pitch and 
tumble, leaving it to chance whether I came in 
right side up or not. 

When I was fairly stowed away in the kan- 
go, two naked coolies raised it from the ground 
and placed the ends of the pole on their brawny 
shoulders. Off they trudged, as though I were 



24 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

simply a bag of rice or a box of cheese, and, jolt- 
ing me up and down like a bowlful of jelly, they 
slowly climbed the steep and stone-paved path of 
the mountains. Now and then they rested the 
ends of the pole upon their stout bamboo sticks, 
and after shifting the heavy burden to the other 
shoulder away they would go again. Though 
their naked bodies would fairly shine with the 
sweat that trickled down their backs, yet they 
went great distances without apparent fatigue, 
always shouting to each other in keeping step. 
There are half-way stations on the mountain, 
where they stop to rest and eat rice ; it is very 
amusing to see a dozen of their nude bodies 
dancing around the fire, each carrying a steaming 
bowl of rice in one hand and chop-sticks in the 
other. Their appetites are well earned, and after 
eating plenty they finish off with a cup of tea. 

In coming down hill the coolies trot very fast, 
and jolt one almost to pieces ; but on level 
ground the kango goes easily, and when you 
get accustomed to keeping your legs tied up in 
knots for two or three hours at a time, and are 
reconciled to wearing an artificial stiff neck for the 
same -period, it becomes quite comfortable, and 
you can soon imagine yourself being rocked to 
sleep. 

On the pass we encountered naked runners, or 



A JOURNEY ON THE '' TOKAIDOr 25 

post-carriers, with their broad-brimmed hats and 
their httle post-boxes slung on a stick over their 
shoulders. These are the swift-footed fellows 
who afterwards brought me my home mails from 
Yokohama. 

After ascending several thousand feet, through 
thickly wooded ravines, we reached the pictu- 
resque village of Hakone, nestled among the 
mountains, at the head of a lovely lake of the 
same name. The whole vicinity of Lake Hakone 
is perfectly charming, and I used to frequently 
stop here afterwards, as it was the '' half-way*' 
point between Shidz-u-o-ka and Yokohama. 

The lake is six miles long, and the water is 
blue, clear, and cool ; at one end of the lake is a 
small peninsula (seen in the picture), and near it 
are the thatched roofs of the houses of Hakone 
village, close by the shore. They look like white 
patches in the distance. A clump of trees behind 
the peninsula marks the spot where the road 
comes down the hill-slope, through a grand ave- 
nue of pines and poplars, and enters the village 
near an ancient guard-house that used to be the 
military ** key'' of northern and eastern Japan. 
Only the foundations of this guard-house now 
remain. The whole village of Hakone, like many 
of the towns scattered along the ** Tokaido,'* is 
located entirely on one street. The houses are 

4 



26 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

plain wooden huts with paper shding-doors, mat- 
ted floors on which people eat and sleep, and 
roofs covered with thatched straw, without chim- 
neys, and having holes at the top to let out the 
smoke. Babies were sprawling around on the 
floors, or strapped upon their mothers' backs like 
an Indian's pappoose. Sometimes the baby's 
head was shaved, with tufts of hair left upon the 
sides and back of the head ; at other times the 
child wore a little red cap, which I used to think 
quite pretty until I found it signified small-pox I 

The ** hotel " at Hakone was like most of the 
others we stopped at on the Tokaido ; the land- 
lord was very polite, and the women of the house 
favored us with loud demonstrations of welcome 
by uttering a chorus of strange sounds we could 
not understand. 

Our coolies turned us out of the kangos on 
the porch of the hotel as though we had been in 
wheel-barrows ; and taking off our shoes, as all 
Japanese do on entering the house, we walked 
across the clean straw mats to the inner apart- 
ments prepared for us. 

Japanese houses are only one or two stories 
high, but cover a great deal of space, and have 
many rooms, separated from each other by frame- 
work and sliding-doors covered simply with rice 
paper. All these sliding-doors can be thrown 



A JOURNEY ON THE " TOKAIDOr 27 

open at once, making one large hall, so that from 
the street you can look straight through the house 
to the garden behind. The kitchen is at the very 
entrance, so that in coming in you pass through 
an array of pots and kettles, and see the women 
boiling rice and frying fish over a fire kindled on 
the floor, or in a stone fireplace where there is no 
chimney. Unsavory odors greet you of unmen- 
tionable Japanese dishes, and you are glad to 
escape the noise and smell by retiring to your 
room, which faces upon a small garden ; here you 
sit upon the floor and rest as well as you can, in 
the absence of beds, chairs, sofas, or common 
comforts. My cook prepared supper from the 
preserved provisions brought with us in tin cans, 
and every thing was served on tiny little tables, 
scarcely a foot high, in dishes no larger than sau- 
cers. 

After tea soft quilts were spread upon the floor 
of the guest-chamber, which is one foot higher 
than the other rooms, and a wooden pillow-block, 
with a little round roll on top of it was placed at 
the head of the pile of quilts for a pillow ! When 
I placed my neck on the pillow-block I felt as if I 
were about to be decapitated ; but they covered 
me with a great stuffed quilt, shaped like a coat, 
with arms two feet wide that flapped over me. 
Then they hoisted a great mosquito-net, and 



28 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

tucked the edges under me to keep away tlie rats ! 
I wondered at this, until I rolled from under the 
net, and found the rats at midnight playing tag 
over my face ! Nor could I drive the creatures 
away until I struck a match, when they fled at the 
light. 

At one of the villages we afterwards passed, 
the yaconims mourned greatly that in the whole 
place they could not find silk comforters for me 
to sleep in, so that for one night I had to conde- 
scend to cotton ones. Everywhere we met with 
the most marked attention and respect ; couriers 
went ahead to ** prepare the way,'* and officials 
vied with each other in courtesy to the stranger. 

We left Hakone Lake early the next morning, 
descending a portion of the way on foot. It is 
customary to start off while yet dark, so as to 
get well on the journey before the heat of the 
day. We had the path illuminated by huge 
torches made of bundles of dried reeds, which 
burned with a brilliant light, and were carried in 
advance by tRe coolies. It was a very weird 
sight : we wended our way through the dark for- 
est and deep ravines, lighting up the rocks and 
trees, and causing shadows to flit along our path 
as the torches flared up or smouldered away in 
the hands of our guides. Ere long the morning 
light came creeping quietly over the neighbor- 



A JOUJ^NEY ON THE " TOKAIDOr 29 

ing hills, chasing away the gray mist and shoot- 
ing long bright streaks across the sky, until at 
last the golden fringe of the eastern sun, which 
skirted the mountain-top, gave place to one 
broad dazzling flash of light, and the king of day 
was ushered in with a perfect sea of glory. 
There was real romance in this early morning 
ramble, so far away from the rest of the world, 
with such strange and beautiful surroundings. We 
were now passing close along the foot of Fujiya- 
ma, and could see all the way up his sloping and 
regular sides, even to the spotless night-cap 
which he still kept on his crater-like head. The 
first thing that would strike a Yankee boy on be- 
ing brought close up to Fujiyama would be the 
jolly sliding-place it would make from top to bot- 
tom for his winter sled ; in fact it looks as if it 
were shaved off for some such purpose, as well as 
to fit nicely on lacquer boxes and tea-chests. 
The appearance of the Tokaido throughout this 
section of the country is splendid ; it is lined all 
the way by a double row of massive and magnifi- 
cent pines, whose overhanging branches have 
shaded the generations that have journeyed over 
this road for centuries. These old trees are 
among the most pleasing and interesting features 
of the whole country, and I like to hear the wind 
sighing through them, as though it were mourn- 



30 LIFE IN JAPAN, . 

ing over some strange and unknown scenes of the 
past. Passing through the villages so early, it 
was a peculiar sight to see all the houses shut up 
in front, their weather-beaten sliding-doors fitting 
into each other so closely as to make the whole 
town look like a succession of windowless barns. 
Now and then we met some old woman taking 
her morning walk, who was petrified with aston- 
ishment at the sudden apparition that greeted 
her. 

Smoke issued from numberless crevices in the 
roofs, showing that the morning fires were being 
lighted within. 

We stopped at a large tea-house, where break- 
fast was served in better style than usual, and 
then we reclined on the broad veranda overlook- 
ing a garden where dwarfed trees, miniature 
mountains, and rippling cascades were all placed 
in an incredibly small compass. We fed the 
finny tribe in the gold-fish pond close to the ve- 
randa, and then sent out for ** Jin-reka-shas,'* or 
man-power carriages, and resumed our journey 
southward. The ** Jin-reka-sha'* is a two- 
wheeled vehicle, more than twice the size of a 
substantial baby-carriage, and is usually drawn 
by two men. One man gets into the thills, the 
other runs ahead with a rope. Both are finely 
tattooed with pictures pricked into the skin with 



A JOURNEY ON THE '' TOKAIDOr 3 1 

ink of various colors. These pictures are similar 
to those seen on Japanese fans, but are more ele- 
gantly executed. The naked bodies of these hu- 
man horses are browned by the sun, and you 
study the muscular proportions of their power- 
fully-developed limbs as they dash along the 
level road at a rate that fairly takes your breath 
away. By changing your men frequently you 
may have new pictures on their backs continually 
dancing before your eyes ; and the varieties in 
art may thereby keep pace with the ever-chang- 
ing beauties of nature through which you are pass- 
ing ! These fellows are very strong, and I have 
often had a single pair of them carry me forty 
miles on a stretch ! They would stop every three 
hours to eat rice and refresh themselves ; in this 
way they would run a whole day without showing 
signs of weariness. 

The little carriage has a cushioned seat and 
short springs, but in going down hill where the 
road is worn rough from the rains you are liable 
to be bounced out if not very careful. Should a 
storm come up, you are protected from the wet 
by an oiled silk top drawn up over your head, 
completely covering you ; through a little flap you 
can look out at the storm and see your coolies 
with dripping straw coats splashing through the 
mud. 



32 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

We Avere now approaching the sea-shore skirt- 
ing the head of the deep Gulf of Su-run-ga, which 
bears the same name as the province where I was 
destined to Hve. On our right towered the great 
snowy peak of Fujiyama, nearly 12,000 feet in 
height. All about us were waving fields of grain 
white for the harvest ; bright landscapes met the 
eye in every direction ; fleecy clouds decked the 
mountain-side ; and sunlight and beauty filled the 
soul with joy, until some sad evidences of heathen- 
ism were passed, showing that though in the midst 
of God's bounties we were still in a pagan coun- 
try. 

The long journey drew to a close as we ap- 
proached the suburbs of Shidz-u-o-ka. Several 
turbulent rivers had been crossed in flat-boats, 
propelled by bamboo poles, and now the last relay 
of Jinrekashas had been given up, and we found 
ourselves entering the city, mounted upon jet 
black Japanese ponies sent out to us by the local 
officials. The directors of the Scientific School 
met us some distance down the road, and bade us 
welcome. 

The streets of the city were crowded with peo- 
ple anxious to catch the first glimpse of the 
strange-looking foreigner. All traffic was cleared 
to the side-streets, and the crowds were hushed 
into silence, as we rode slowly and in state toward 



A JOURNEY ON THE " TOKAIDOr Z^ 

the ** ken-cho/' or government house, where the 
official reception was to be given. Multitudes of 
faces peered at us from behind the sliding-doors, 
and from rows of people squat on their heels by 
the way-side, as we marched by. Crossing the 
drawbridge of the castle moat, we passed under 
an immense gate, and then turned toward an in- 
closure filled with spacious buildings. 

We dismounted at the second gate, and walked 
across a paved court -yard to a broad porch where 
twenty or thirty officials stood waiting to receive 
us. I could immediately see by the demeanor of 
my guards and attendants, and by their profound 
bows, that I was in some very august presence ; 
for they had received quite complacently all the 
salutations on the journey, but now they bobbed 
and scraped as though they could not get their 
heads low enough ! 

The ** Gon-dai-san-je,*' governors of the prov- 
ince of Su-run-ga, welcomed me with all the dig- 
nity due their station, and after taking off my 
hat and boots I walked up to them and bowed 
respectfully. They returned the salutation, and 
then, without a word being spoken, conducted 
me into an inner chamber, where a bran new 
table with two plain wooden chairs had been 
provided. The chief official sat down with me, 
while all the rest stood by, and our first *' inter- 

5 



34 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

view** proceeded through interpreters ; the French 
language being used, which was then translated 
into Japanese. 

The governors welcomed me, they said, to the 
province and city over which they ruled, and 
congratulated me upon the auspicious termina- 
tion of the long and tiresome journey from my 
distant home. They expressed themselves par- 
ticularly pleased that I had arrived in Japan so 
much sooner than they expected. 

I replied that in America we were accustomed 
to do things very promptly, and that no sooner 
was their invitation received than I acted upon 
it. They seemed grateful and satisfied. 

After further conversation they said I must be 
weary after my long ride, so they ordered my at- 
tendants to escort me to the great temple, which 
was hereafter to be my " home !*' 



CHAPTER III. 

LIFE IN A BUDDHIST TEMPLE. 

The Buddhist temples usually occupy the most 
picturesque sites, enshrined among thickly 
shaded groves, and secluded from the noise and 
bustle of the large cities. Approaching them 
through an avenue of trees, or ascending the hill- 
slope, you may see their massive roofs, carved 
pagodas, and huge bell-towers rising abruptly 
through the green foliage. The very atmosphere 
of sacred solitude surrounds them. 

In one of these temples I was destined to live 
during my first year in Japan. With all its 
heathen rites and pagan darkness, I yet learned 
to call it my home. Under almost the same roof 
with me were the priests of Buddha and the idols, 
before whom incense was continually burning, 
filling the house with fragrance. The grounds of 
the temple covered several acres, and contained 
nearly a dozen buildings. Some of these were 
temples, others were small shrines, and the cen- 
tral building was a temple and dwelling com- 



36 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

billed. Here most of the worship was performed 
by day and night, and here I lived. 

Several massive gates led into the grounds. 
Under the largest stood two grim warriors, carved 
in wood and painted plaster, measuring fifteen 
feet in height, and holding giant spears, bows, 
and arrows, with which to guard the sacred por- 
tals of the temple. Colossal pines shaded the 
walks, and bamboo groves skirted the hill-side. 
To the left stood a Buddhist cemetery on the 
terraced slope of the hill. A great bronze bell in 
the tower tolled solemnly and slow, with a deep 
booming sound, every evening when the sun 
went down. 

At first I thought it quite romantic ; I liked 
the retirement and the peaceful stillness, broken 
only by the prayers of the priests and the meas- 
ured beat of the drums accompanying the repeti- 
tion of the musical words, ** Buddha armida'* 
and *' Na-mi-o-ho-ren-gi-ko.'' The priests were 
very polite, and sent me fresh tea raised in their 
own garden, and boxes of eggs and sponge-cake. 
I thanked them, sent them some preserved 
peaches, and invited them to attend my Bible- 
class ! 

In fact I had 2, Bible-class, even in this strong- 
hold of heathenism, with nothing to interrupt 
except the noise of the gongs and the pagan wor- 



A BUDDHIST TEMPLE, 



1 ^ 



ship of the adjoining temple. On the very first 
Sabbath, at the request of many of my brightest 
pupils, I explained the teachings of Christianity 
to as earnest and intelligent a body of young 
men as it was ever my privilege to address. 
They listened for more than two hours to a care- 
ful presentation of Christian truth, warmly thank- 
ing me at the close, and gladly accepted a copy 
oLthe Scriptures, which I gave each one of them, 
promising to study the chapter assigned for the 
next Sabbath. 

The happiest memories I have connected with 
my long exile in the interior of Japan are those 
of the hours regularly spent with my Sabbath- 
morning Bible-class. The eagerness with which 
the truth was received, the affectionate gratitude 
manifested by all who attended, the solemn 
assurance which the Divine Spirit gave of his pres- 
ence, and the consciousness that I was presenting 
Christ to those who had never known him, but 
would soon rejoice in his salvation, filled me with 
awe and yet with enthusiasm, and gave an unction 
to my words far above the secular teachings of the 
week-day lecture-room or laboratory. 

Of the difficulties experienced in presenting 
spiritual truth to minds entirely unaccustomed to 
it, and through a strange language, I need not 
speak ; but all obstacles were gradually overcome, 



38 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

and the students would write me grateful notes 
during the week, asking questions on the subject 
discussed, and usually closing with short exclama- 
tions like the following : 
^ * ' These are golden truths you are giving us, 
and they satisfy the soul,'* said one student. ** I 
have got very great important points yesterday, of 
which you have spoken to us from the faith," 
wrote another. A third wrote, * ' Alas ! my grand- 
mother has died without knowing the greatness 
and glory of our God, and the comfort of the 
blessed Gospel of our Saviour Jesus Christ." 

So engrossing were my duties during the week 
that it was impossible for me to meet the students 
more than once for systematic Bible study. But 
they became so interested in the subject that they 
voluntarily started a Japanese Bible-class, con- 
ducted by themselves ; the class was held on every 
Sunday afternoon, at the house of one of their 
number, and the Chinese and Japanese transla- 
tions of the Scriptures were used. 

Shi-mo-jo, my favorite interpreter, lived with 
me at the temple ; he was the brightest and most 
interesting young Japanese I ever met, and I 
learned to love him as a brother. He was inval- 
uable to me in a thousand ways, and I bestowed 
great care on his education. In scientific studies 
he made rapid progress, and at my daily lectures 



A BUDDHIST TEMPLE, 39 

in the class-room he rendered the work of instruc- 
tion delightful by the clearness and enthusiasm 
with which he would expound to others the most 
abstruse scientific subjects. 

But his health was delicate, and to my great 
sorrow he died in his twenty-fourth year, just as 
he was entering a life full of usefulness and pro- 
mise. Over his grave, in a Japanese cemetery in 
Tokio, was raised a large stone, with a touching in- 
scription written in Chinese by his friend Naka- 
mura ; and having at the close a complete state- 
ment of the Christian faith, in the hope and com- 
fort of which Shimojo died. 

Two little boys also lived with me ; one was the 
son of Governor Okubo, and the other the son of 
the captain of a Japanese ship-of-war, which went 
down in the last naval battle fought in 1868 by 
the forces of the Tycoon. When the father of this 
little boy saw that his ship was going to sink, he 
sent his men away in the boats, and then set the 
ship on fire, and drew his sword and committed 
** ha-ra-ki-ru,'' which the Japanese consider a 
very brave and honorable way of terminating life. 

I must not forget to mention another humble 
member of my household, who had quite a re- 
markable history even before I became acquainted 
with him. His name was ** Sam Patch 'M and he 
was my cook. He was nearly twice as old as any 



40 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

of the rest of us, and used to amuse us with his 
droll style and strange stories. 

'' Sam'* was formerly a poor Jap sailor-boy, who 
drifted to sea in a terrible periodical storm — the 
** typhoon/' which drove his frail junk far away 
from the shore. After many anxious days on the 
ocean he was picked up by an American sailing 
vessel and carried to San Francisco. Here he 
was friendless and alone, so he embarked on an- 
other ship and went to China, and afterwards 
to the Philippine Islands. When Commodore 
Perry went to Japan to make the first treaty, he 
took Sam on his flag-ship, the Mississippi ; but 
as Sammy was afraid of losing his head if he 
landed, he fell on his face before Commodore 
Perry, and begged him to bring him back to 
America. In those days the Japanese were so 
barbarous in their feelings toward foreigners that 
they would even kill any of their own people who 
had been among foreigners and then come back 
again. Sammy Avas therefore permitted to take 
the long voyage around Cape Horn to New York, 
and it was on this journey that the sailors nick- 
named him '' Sam Patch,'* as they could not pro- 
nounce his real Japanese name, San-ta-ro. 

Sammy was befriended by a missionary, who 
took him to his home in the central part of New 
York State. On their way Sam passed through 



A BUDDHIST TEMPLE. 4^ 

Albany and Syracuse, which he afterwards de- 
scribed to me as very queer places. Sam had 
great opportunities in the world, but he didn't 
have any brains to start on ; so after a while he 
was sent back to Japan, where he aspired to the 
position of *' cook,'' in various missionary families. 
He liked to have his own way, however, and after 
many vicissitudes he became the chief of my 
kitchen department. He baked the bread, roasted 
the ducks, made pies and puddings, and his rice- 
cakes were everywhere famous. Finally, at the 
end of three years, I buried him in a Buddhist 
cemetery ; but of that I will speak by and by. 

Perhaps you may wonder how I occupied my- 
self during these long months away from society 
and civilization, without seeing an American or 
European face for half a year at a time. 

You may even imagine that I had an easy and 
dreamy existence, in the midst of shady trees, fra- 
grant incense, and oriental repose. On the con- 
trary, I never before worked half so hard as I did 
during the months of exile in the interior of Japan. 
With an institution of nearly one thousand stu- 
dents, under the supervision of a single foreigner ; 
with fifty Japanese assistants to direct and instruct ; 
with classes in various scientific departments, both 
theoretical and practical ; with interpreters to be 
drilled, regulations to be made and enforced, ex- 

6 



42 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

periment^ prepared, and lectures given through 
the threefold medium of English, French, and 
Japanese, you may believe I had my hands full. 

My regular duties at the school began on Christ- 
mas-day, as much time had been spent in getting 
settled. During Christmas week the heathen fes- 
tival occurred of offering first-fruits of the earth 
to the pagan deities, so that three holidays were 
given. We began again on New-year*s-day, and 
I made out a programme of studies, which was ac- 
cepted and printed in Japanese. I said nothing 
respecting the Sabbath, but left the space blank ; 
the officials inferred my wishes, however, and in- 
serted the word **rest.'' It was quietly done, 
and an order was issued changing the previous 
arrangements, and closing the school on the Sab- 
bath. 

I usually rose at six o'clock in the morning, and 
after breakfast the horses and guards would ap- 
pear at the gate. Passing across the little garden, 
with its dwarfed trees and gold-fish pond, I would 
mount my jet black Japanese pony and gallop 
down the road, preceded by my ''bet-to," or 
groom, and followed by the guard. The ''bet- 
to" was a well-formed young fellow, naked to the 
waist, and splendidly tattooed with colored figures 
and dragons ; he ran like a deer, and always kept 
ahead of the horse, clearing the road by a peculiar 



A BUDDHIST TEMPLE 43 

cry, which made everybody get out of the way. 
The distance from my temple to the school build- 
ing was more than a mile, and as I frequently 
went over the ground four times a day, it was 
sometimes necessary to go very fast. 

When I got tired of riding horseback — for the 
Jap ponies are very spirited and hard to hold — I 
borrowed a four-wheeled foreign carriage, which I 
found the ex-Tycoon had brought to the city. 
This carriage was the only one in the whole prov- 
ince, and was a great curiosity to the Japanese. 
It had been presented by the Dutch to the 
Tycoon, and now that it was no longer needed, 
he lent it to me, with the horse that had been 
trained to the harness. But Shidz-u-o-ka roads 
were never made for carriages, so the governors 
caused the way to be widened by building new 
bridges and small embankments. 

If you could have seen the bewildered amaze- 
ment of the natives as my chariot wheels dashed 
by their doors, you would suppose something 
frightful was coming. Mothers were running for 
their babies in the middle of the road, peasants 
flying into the ditches, ducks cackling, dogs bark- 
ing, and stones rattling — all mingling in the wild 
vtelee. Yet nobody was hurt. 

The two-sworded men on the road would pros- 
trate themselves before the carriage, thinking 



44 LIFE . IN JAPAN. 

that the ex-Tycoon was coming ; but when they 
heard the laughter of my guards as we passed, 
they looked very fierce and straightened up im- 
mediately. They were as wrathful in the end as 
they were reverential in the beginning. These 
were the men who disliked foreigners. 

To reach the school building we had to pass a 
drawbridge crossing a deep moat which skirted 
the outer embankment of the old castle grounds. 
Then riding a quarter of a mile through the in- 
closure, we passed under a wooden gate, and dis- 
mounted at the school. Here the directors and 
petty officials would meet us. 

At the side entrance of the school are shelves 
upon which are ranged hundreds of wooden clog- 
shoes, which the scholars have taken off on enter- 
ing ; instead of a hat-rack (of which there would 
be no need), you see a sword-rack, with pegs in it, 
upon which rows of small swords are resting, some 
of which are sharp and elegantly ornamented. 
These belong to the Samourai scholars within, 
who, though small, are proud of their rank, and 
are entitled to wear swords in their little belts, 
with the ancient family crest on their clothing. 

On entering the part of the building where Jap- 
anese instruction is going on in the old-fashioned 
style, you hear a great buzzing sound, such as 
might come from a colossal beehive, and as the 



A BUDDHIST TEMPLE, 45 

noise gets louder and louder you can distinguish 
the shrill voices of several hundred youngsters, 
who seem to vie with one another in studying 
aloud their Chinese and Japanese lessons. 

Following the dignified steps of the director, 
you pass through various rooms with low ceilings 
and matted floors, finding in each room rows of 
tables a foot high, before which squat the little 
folks upon straw mats. The noise subsides some- 
what as you enter the room, and all the scholars 
bow down in an instant before you, touching 
either the table or the floor with their foreheads. 
Each teacher greets you with ** O-hi-o !*' (Good- 
morning) and kneels beside you while inspecting 
the class, catching every glance of commendation 
you deign to give, and as you retire he draws a 
deep sigh, not of relief but of respect, and the 
next class goes through the same formality. 

In the school and the family the children are 
trained to politeness and respect to their superiors 
as the first and most essential requirement ; and 
the dignified and gentle manner in which the 
young folks conduct themselves is really surpris- 
ing. The Japanese are the most polite people in 
the world, and though they have bare feet and 
wear less clothing than we do in America, they 
certainly are more courteous and kind than many 
people who call themselves ** civilized.*' The chil- 



46 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

dren especially are never quarrelsome or trouble- 
some ; they are obedient and dutiful to parents and 
teachers, and are all the happier for it. In the school 
you would not see any thing that even approach- 
ed disorder, and there was an air of refinement 
about the commonest-clad child. The scholars 
wore loose dresses with long sleeves, which served 
as pockets, and in which they carried tops, strings, 
oranges, and rolls of brown paper, or any thing 
they needed. They tied up their books in pieces 
of cotton or silk, and carried them home to study 
at night in the same noisy way. All this loud 
study of former days simply filled their heads 
with long passages from classical Chinese and Jap- 
anese books, which they memorized by rote, with- 
out understanding half they studied. They had to 
learn a great many ''moral precepts" also, such 
as obedience to parents and the elder brother, 
respect for the aged, worship at the graves of their 
ancestors, offerings at the shrines of pagan gods, 
and stories of romance and robbers, which were 
calculated to teach bravery and give them con- 
tempt of death. 

The scholars in the Japanese and Chinese de- 
partment came to school at six o'clock in the 
morning and were dismissed at nine. They also 
came again at five in the afternoon. My own 
classes of the more advanced students commenced 



A BUDDHIST TEMPLE. 47 

at nine o* clock and continued until noon ; then I 
arranged the apparatus and experiments in the 
new laboratory built for me, preparatory to the 
afternoon lectures, which began at two o'clock 
and continued until five. 

I wrote chemical formulas, and drew diagrams 
on the large black-board, which were copied by 
the students while I went home to dinner. On 
returning I would find fifty or sixty young men 
seated in the large lecture-room, ready for the ex- 
periments and the lecture in chemistry or physics. 
These young men were nearly all about my own 
age, enthusiastic in their pursuit of science, and 
diligent in their studies to a degree that aston- 
ished me. They mastered with facility text- 
books that had taxed all the energies of American 
college students, and were so thorough and devot- 
ed to their work that it was a pleasure to teach 
them. 

The government had been very liberal in pro- 
viding suitable scientific and philosophical appa- 
ratus, so that all the principles and problems in 
chemistry and physics could be proved and illus- 
trated before their eyes. The experiments were 
at times a Httle dangerous, but the Japanese de- 
light in excitement, and would face without fear 
the most hazardous ** demonstrations." 

One may easily imagine with what astonishment 



48 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

and delight these people (who had hitherto known 
nothing of science and the marvellous inventions 
of our age) viewed for the first time the wonders 
of electricity, the steam-engine, the air-pump, the 
startling results of chemical combinations, and all 
the powders and appliances of modern physics. No 
wonder that rumors floated about among the com- 
mon people outside the school that either I had 
*'the gods** or ** the devil** in my laboratory, 
they didn't know which ! While I was perform- 
ing my experiments, Shimojo, my interpreter, 
would explain the principles to those students who 
only understood Japanese ; other students were 
taught in French or English. Between the three 
languages we usually got along very well : they 
always asked a great many questions. 

When the duties of the day were over, the 
horses and bettos would appear at the door, 
and I would ride home to tea. I always found 
** Sam Patch** awaiting me at the temple with 
hot rice-cakes and honey, and plenty of nice 
things. The guards put up at the little house at 
the gate, and as night came on the servants 
closed the long line of sliding-doors, which ran in 
grooves on three sides of the building, so that the 
whole temple was shut up like a box ! No one 
could enter the grounds after dark. 

At night I could hear the rats racing through 



A BUDDHIST TEMPLE. 49 

the great empty lofts of the temple ; hundreds of 
them would come scampering over the thin 
wooden ceiling at midnight, directly over my 
head, and I would wake up with a start, thinking 
that a small army was coming ! 

Earthquakes are very frequent in Japan, and 
often occur at night. Sometimes I would be 
aroused from my sleep by a strange motion of the 
bed, as though its four legs were about to walk 
off with me ! On listening, I would hear the 
heavy timbers in the roof creaking, and the whole 
building groaning and shivering like a ship at sea. 
Still, as there was no storm raging outside, I 
could not sometimes imagine what the commo- 
tion meant, until, on lying perfectly quiet, I could 
feel the earthquake waves passing under the tem- 
ple at intervals of two or three minutes each. 
Usually there are three waves, and the second is 
the most severe ; so, if the first shock was heavy 
enough to shake things up badly, I would scam- 
per out of bed, and try and get from under the 
massive roof of the temple before the second 
wave would have a chance to bring it down on 
my head. These roofs, being made of stone tiles, 
are exceedingly heavy, and are supported simply 
by uprights standing on the ground, without any 
foundation ; in fact the whole building stands on 
wooden legs. As the earthquake wave passes 

7 



50 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

under, these timbers slip and creak and make a 
great fuss, but do not fall. When they do fall, 
however, woe to the unfortunate people who hap- 
pen to be underneath ! In the destructive earth- 
quake in Tokio, some years ago, more than sixty 
thousand persons perished by the falling of these 
tiled roofs and the opening of deep crevices in 
the earth. 

One Saturday, after I had returned from the 
school, the gate-keeper, knowing that some money 
had been left in the building, undertook to be- 
come robber instead of guard. He slipped 
quietly into the room where the money was, and 
finding one of the guards sleeping with his head 
resting on a pillow-block, he attempted to decap- 
itate him. The poor fellow seized the sword 
blade in trying to save himself ; but these Japan- 
ese weapons are as sharp as razors, and he only 
cut his fingers off. In another instant the rob- 
ber had killed him and fled with the money, leav- 
ing a Buddhist book behind, which fell from his 
clothing. By this book he was afterwards de- 
tected in the next province, and brought back to 
Shidz-u-o-ka and beheaded. If it were not too 
terrible, I could describe the way they sometimes 
** try'' such criminals by torture. 

Earthquakes, robbers, and the romantic expe- 
riences of a strange country kept life in the old 




BUDDHIST TEMPLE AND PAGODA. 



A BUDDHIST TEMPLE. 5 1 

Buddhist temple free from monotony for some 
time ; but at last it became very lonely, as the 
romance and novelty faded out, and the clatter 
of drums and gongs in the temple, instead of be- 
ing musical, became intolerable. I used to wan- 
der up through the woods, passing the Buddhist 
burying-ground, and sit down on top of the hill 
(on every Sabbath afternoon), and look off across 
the Pacific towards home. 

The sullen roar of the ocean could be heard as 
the waves broke heavily upon the beach five miles 
away ; that same sea washed the shores of my 
own country, nearly five thousand miles further 
east. The sun set over the western hills of 
Japan, and reappeared rising from the ocean, 
fresh from its journey across the continent of 
America. It came to me bright and cheery every 
morning from *' home/* though all my distant 
friends were in bed and asleep in America at the 
time it reached me in Japan. 

Still the days and months rolled by, and though 
I worked hard and kept busy there were hours 
when the sense of loneliness seemed too oppressive 
to be borne. On the Sabbath especially I would 
pace to and fro on my temple porch, or climb 
alone to the hill-top, and think of the long months 
yet to come before I could hope to see a familiar 
face or hear a familiar American voice. 



52 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

If I could only see a single foreigner like myself 
for ''just a few minutes/* I would often say, 
then I thought I would be happy and willing to 
stand another siege of seclusion from society. 
But when this did happen eventually, and two 
friends came all the way from Yokohama to visit 
me a few days, I felt all the more lonely after 
they left ; for the solitude seemed more complete, 
in contrast to the merry social times which they 
said everybody was having in Yokohama and 
Tokio. Nevertheless I believe in solitude, and I 
like it, provided it comes in doses that can be en- 
dured. I believe that true development comes 
through some forms of solitude faster than through 
most forms of society. One can be happy alone, if 
he has the proper resources within himself ; and I 
look back upon that old Buddhist temple as the 
brightest and happiest spot that I have yet seen in 
the world. 



CHAPTER IV. 

LIFE IN A FEUDAL CASTLE. 

Nearly three hundred years ago the founder 
of the Tycoon dynasty dwelt in a great castle. 
This castle was at Shidzuoka, and was surround- 
ed with high walls and broad moats with water 
flowing through them. There was a double line 
of moats, stretching in a continuous circuit of 
half a mile or more, and faced with sold stone 
masonry. Within the inner inclosure there rose 
a massive tower and other lesser battlements. 
Upon the long line of embankments pine trees 
were planted, from which the archers might shoot 
their arrows at the foe. The trees were young 
then, but now are grand and stately in their old 
age. From these castle grounds a most impres- 
sive view was presented on either hand. To the 
north stood the ** Matchless Mountain,** ever 
fresh and glorious in its snowy robes, and capped 
with more silvery clouds than ever shadowed an 
Alpine peak. On the west stood a long range of 



54 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

bleak heights, which opened up into a valley rich 
in fertility and every tint of green. 

All around the castle was spread out a broad 
expanse of rice fields and waving grain, while a 
few miles to the east lay the ocean, whose distant 
roar could easily be heard, and whose waves had 
so long broken upon the shores of a land locked 
in mystery. The thatched-roof houses and huts 
of Shidzuoka (then called Futsitc, or Chief Cap- 
ital,) were scattered in great numbers about the 
castle ; and all the inhabitants rendered complete 
submission and homage to their feudal lord, the 
First Tycoon. This castle is now in ruins, and 
fire and earthquake have left little there save the 
walls and moats and crumbled towers shaded by 
patriarchal pines. The mail-clad warriors are 
gone who once walked these now deserted para- 
pets ; the archers no longer shoot their arrows 
from the fir branches of the trees ; the spearmen 
and swordsmen who guarded the gates have gone 
to their graves long ago, leaving the copper-cov- 
ered gates unbarred, the drawbridges tottering 
and decayed, and the wild foxes to roam among 
the ruins and vine-covered rocks of the once 
mighty fortress. For a century or more these 
castle grounds remained unoccupied, and the 
birds and wild animals had learned to make it 
their home ; while the city still thrived without 



A FEUDAL CASTLE, 55 

the walls, and grew in crescent form around the 
broad outer moat of the castle. 

After I had lived a year at the Buddhist temple 
described in the last chapter, the government de- 
cided to build me a house in foreign style, and I 
was requested to select the most suitable site for 
its location. My two friends Katz and Okubo, 
who had been councillors in the court of the last 
Tycoon (and who were more recently instrumental 
in calling me to Japan), were the persons who 
built me the house, as a gift from San-mie-san, 
a little prince of the province, whom they had in 
charge. This little prince was greatly respected in 
the region, as he was descended from those who 
had ruled the country for three hundred years, 
and would have been the present Tycoon had not 
that power been overthrown. 

Katz and Okubo thought my temple home too 
far away from the school and too unprotected, 
besides being inconvenient in many ways. They 
wisely proposed the new house, and I chose the 
deserted castle grounds as the best place upon 
which to build. 

The Japanese carpenters had never seen a for- 
eign house, nor were they familiar with modern 
methods of construction ; neither did I consider 
myself an architect, or ■ capable of very explicit 
directions. But I wanted a house well built, com- 



56 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

fortable, and secure. So we determined to over- 
come all obstacles. I drew up the plans with care, 
and for nearly six months hundreds of stone-cut- 
ters and carpenters were engaged in executing 
them. A portion of the embankment on the cor- 
ner of the castle moat was cut away and faced 
with solid masonry, constructed from stones drawn 
from the ruins of the old castle tower. The stones 
for the walls of the house were brought from a 
neighboring province. 

I experienced much pleasure in watching the pro- 
gress of my crude architectural ideas, as they 
slowly assumed solid reality. But the work was 
no child's play ; for not only did the ground plan 
and apartments have to be mapped out, but every 
thing inside and outside the house had to be ex- 
plained, for the Japs had no more idea of their 
meaning than the man in the moon. Doors, win- 
dows, stairs, closets, chimneys, and other minor 
details had to be drawn and presented to the 
head-carpenter by pictures and measurements. 
Sometimes the most amusing mistakes would 
occur, owing to his never having seen the objects 
in question. The carpenters were skilful in imita- 
tion beyond any thing you could believe. They 
brought back the most perfect little models of the 
things described, and it was seldom necessary to 
correct them. 



A FEUDAL CASTLE. 57 

After the work of building was fairly com- 
menced, the roof was completed in a month, and 
the heaviest part of the foundation in two months 
more ; for you must know that it would be de- 
cidedly contrary to Japanese character to do any 
thing except in a manner directly opposite to all 
our preconceived notions on the subject. In a 
Japanese house the roof is always built first, and 
the other parts afterwards ! With a kind of celes- 
tial instinct, they always commence at the high- 
est point and work downwards. In all the lesser 
occupations of daily labor, such as digging, saw- 
ing, planing, cutting lumber, boring holes, or 
turning screws, the Japanese do just exactly the 
reverse of what people do on the other hemi- 
sphere ; and it is consistent with the idea which 
children have at home respecting our antipodes, 
the queer folks that walk with their heads down 
and their feet sticking up, like flies on a ceiling. 

After watching the manner in which they built 
the house, I felt as if they would be inclined to 
stand the whole thing on its chimneys, with 
kitchen and cellar skyward ; but this was hardly . 
convenient to do. 

The chimneys, by the way, were the most mys- 
terious part of the house to the carpenters. For 
a long time they could not be prevailed upon to 
build them ; but at last they broke holes through 



58 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

the floors and roof, and, with the aid of the 
stone-cutters, put them in. 

They regarded the building of the house as a 
wonderful achievement, and hundreds of people 
from all over the country came to see it, suppos- 
ing that all houses in America were built in the 
same style. 

The picture given of the house is taken from in- 
side the castle grounds. On the right of the pic- 
ture is a small Japanese house occupied by ** Sam 
Patch,** who is seen standing in front. The well 
is also seen, with the stone furnace where Sam 
heated the water for baths. In the foreground is 
a Japanese well, with a long bamboo stick, having 
a stone tied at the end, like the old Egyptian 
method of drawing water. 

Four large pine trees stand near the house, be- 
tween which I used to suspend a beautiful Ameri- 
can flag, which the Japanese called the *' flower 
flag,** and which could be seen from the surround- 
ing country. With it waved a small Japanese 
flag, having the *' rising sun** upon it ; the Ameri- 
can '' stars** and the Japanese '* sun** floated very 
peacefully together, and in raising the flags I 
usually caused salutes to be fired. 

The situation of the house was very pictu- 
resque. It stood upon the outer embankment of 
the castle moat, facing northward upon the 



A FEUDAL CASTLE, 59 

*' Matchless Mountain" of Japan ; to the left, 
towards the sun-setting, were fertile valleys and 
verdant hills ; and to the south — the side on 
which the picture is taken — its open outlook was 
towards the ruins and interior moats of the castle. 
On the south side of the house a court-yard is 
seen, where I gave a '' stereopticon exhibition*' 
on Christmas eve to several hundred delighted 
Japanese, the parents and friends of my students. 
The evening was beautiful, and the people came 
early with printed tickets that invited them to ** a 
trip in imagination through foreign countries and 
the starry heavens" ! 

Not the least interesting part of the entertain- 
ment to them was the opportunity given of view- 
ing the interior of my house. Ushers were ap- 
pointed to guide them around, and for an hour 
the people poured in and out of the house, utter- 
ing all manner of exclamations of wonder at what 
they saw. And well they might, for the poor crea- 
tures had never been accustomed in their own 
homes to any thing we would call comfort. Liv- 
ing and sleeping, as they do, on straw mats, in 
simple wooden houses with paper windows and 
shutters, and without any thing that we could call 
furniture, except little lacquer tables a foot high, of 
course a foreign house, furnished in American style, 
appeared to them luxurious beyond description. 



6o LIFE IN JAPAN, 

They examined every object with the minutest 
care ; carpets, rocking-chairs, table-covers, writ- 
ing-desk, mirrors, lace curtains, chandelier, beds, 
and bureaus — all were of great novelty to them. 
The brilliant-colored oil-cloth in the hall created 
astonishment as they walked upon it, for they 
could not imagine what it was or how it could be 
made. The walls and ceilings were covered with 
bright-tinted paper of various patterns — for we do 
not use plaster ceilings in this land of earth- 
quakes — and the Japanese understood the wall 
paper very well, for it is from Japan that Euro- 
peans first got the idea of covering their walls with 
paper. 

But when the Japs, especially the ladies, came 
to explore the kitchen, their admiration for the 
cooking - range and chimney was unbounded. 
They had never seen ovens, or appliances for bak- 
ing, roasting, etc., and every thing in the culinary 
department was a revelation to them exceeding 
the novelties of the parlor, bedrooms, or well- 
stocked pantry. 

When it was dark I seated the people on straw 
mats in the court -yard, and delighted them with 
the stereopticon entertainment. They had never 
seen such a sight before, and the beautiful pic- 
tures of scenes in America and Europe were like 
glimpses into another world. The revolving 



A FEUDAL CASTLE. 6 1 

astronomical diagrams excited great astonishment. 
I tried to prove by the shadow of the earth on the 
moon, and by the ship saihng around the globe, 
that our world was round. But the old folks 
shook their heads, and were sceptical on that 
point ; for they had been in the world longer than 
I had, and knew it was flat ! 

After most of the people had gone home I gave 
a Christmas dinner — or supper rather — to forty of 
my friends and the officers of the province. The 
long tables, bountifully spread, proved a climax 
upon their astonishment and their appetites, and 
they pronounced the bill of fare as good as it was 
novel. There were roast ducks and chickens, 
corn, peas, beans, tomatoes, succotash, and pota- 
toes, besides plenty of pies, cakes, jellies, and 
sweetmeats. All of these foreign provisions were 
imported from London and San Francisco. The 
Japanese market is limited to rice, fish, and a few 
unpalatable vegetables. Piles of oranges, apples, 
and other fruit loomed up among the casters and 
dishes, and the long white tables, lit up by lamps 
and countless candles, presented a cheery appear- 
ance, rendered doubly gay by the reflection of the 
large mirror hanging on the wall. 

After half an hour the provisions began to grow 
beautifully less, and the clatter of unskilful knives 
and forks became less apparent. At this stage of 



62 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

the proceedings a large turkey appeared upon the 
scene, and was of course the rarest sight of all. 
Said turkey had been presented to me some time 
previous by one of the Daisanje, and had been 
purchased by him at a fabulous price from some 
enterprising Japanese, who had brought it from 
Yokohama, but had found it *' a white elephant " 
upon his hands. I had kept and fattened my 
feathered friend especially for this Christmas oc- 
casion ; and when he came in well stuffed and 
plump, with oyster-sauce accompaniment, I in- 
dulged the hope that I might strategically remove 
a nice slice or a ** drumstick'' to my own plate 
for private purposes. I had, moreover, ordained 
that two or three ** courses'' should intervene be- 
fore the bringing on of the turkey, trusting there- 
by to stay the tide of demolition, so that when it 
came to turkey it would have to say, ** Thus far, 
and no farther." But alas ! vain was the hope 
for me and my drumsticks ! The sight of the tur- 
key only renewed their courage, and they set to 
work again with greater vigor. I was kept so 
busy carving that I had no time to realize that 
friend turkey was fast disappearing from my view, 
until when I at last came to my senses not a ves- 
tige remained save a few stuffing crumbs and that 
unmentionable appendage which goes over the 
fence last. 



A FEUDAL CASTLE, 63 

The only amusement I had as the long months 
passed away was in entertaining the Japanese 
and seeing them enjoy themselves. On various 
holidays I would give them dinners, scientific ex- 
periments, fireworks, or exhibitions with the mi- 
croscope and the stereopticon. In return they 
would deluge me with presents and with expres- 
sions of gratitude, and take me to see any Japan- 
ese display that they supposed worth showing. 

One of the students came to me one day and 
said there was a great Japanese '' tournament '' 
going on on the other side of the castle, and that 
it was like the '* War of the Roses'' which he had 
read of in English history, and like one which 
Japanese feudal history also tells about. So I 
went off with him, thinking it was a good chance 
to see the style of warfare which once prevailed 
about the very castle in which I was then living. 
We found a spacious inclosure, fitted up like a 
great circus ring, with a frail bamboo balcony run- 
ning around it, upon which the spectators were 
seated. The first part of the fray consisted of 
single combats, in which the knights were arrayed 
in old-fashioned armor, the same as that worn in 
past feudal days. Instead of steel swords, how- 
ever, they used a clumsy bamboo weapon shaped 
like a sword ; for they did not intend killing each 
other, though they struck very heavy blows. Be- 



H LIFE IN JAPAN, 

fore each pair of combatants engaged each other, 
a personage in flowing robes, and with a large 
black fan, would step forward and announce their 
names in a most ridiculous tone of voice, and then 
holding his open fan out towards them he bade 
them approach each other. Whereupon they ad- 
vanced to the centre of the ring and saluted, and 
then, wetting the handles of their swords with 
water, went to work. 

First they began fencing, until one attempted 
either a thrust or a blow, and then there came 
such a clatter and quick succession of foils and 
strokes that you could scarcely see who was get- 
ting the worst of it. Usually a fair and square 
blow on the head would settle the question, and 
one of the ** braves" would jump backward with 
a triumphant yell. The person who got fairly 
struck twice out of three times was declared de- 
feated, and a ** judge" always stood by to decide 
any point in dispute. 

The main feature of the show came about the 
middle of the afternoon, and it was this which my 
interpreter had called a Httle *' War of the Roses." 
After a general clearing up of every thing for the 
coming strife, forty '' knights" appeared upon the 
field, each with his armor, sword, and a hideous- 
looking mask. They were heralded by a trum- 
peter, who came with stately step into the middle 



A FEUDAL CASTLE, 65 

of the ring, dressed in a rich white robe of silk, 
and carrying his horn in a silken net. This horn 
was a superb instrument, made from a natural sea- 
shell, and the notes it yielded were mournfully 
beautiful. My interpreter said this was the horn 
used in olden times to call the people to battle. 
So, as the notes of the horn died away, the forty 
knights began to file into the field for action. 

First came the '* Whites,'' all clad in armor, 
each having a white sash or ribbon tied over his 
head, and streaming down behind. In the centre 
stood their color-bearer, not with a flag, as you 
would suppose, but with three great plume-shaped 
things dancing over his helmet. Next came the 
'' Reds,'' their chief walking in front with stately 
tread, and their red ribbons shaking in anticipation 
of the bloody fray. They too had a color-bearer 
of the same tripod style, and when he shook his 
head the scarlet banner waved like a tree in the 
wind. But the two parties did not stand long on 
ceremony ; the line of battle was formed, and 
though it was of limited extent it made the con- 
flict all the closer. Each party kept a reserve in 
the rear, and each color-bearer was also kept be- 
hind. Each knight had upon the top of his hel- 
met a small piece of soft wood, tied loosely with a 
string. 

Inasmuch as it was inexpedient for them to 
9 



66 



LIFE IN JAPAN. 



break each other's heads in the fight, the next 
best thing they could do was to break this Httle 
piece of wood on top of the head. Whoever had 
his Httle piece of wood broken was considered as 
getting the equivalent of having his head smashed, 
and was therefore placed hors du combat^ and must 
leave the ring ! 

The Japs are very polite, even in fighting, so 
the first thing the two lines of warriors did was to 
salute each other, and then, at a signal from their 
chiefs, they sprang upon each other like tigers. 
Such a melee as ensued I never before saw. 
There were shouts and yells, and rushing to and 
fro, and crashing of swords and sticks, and torn 
ribbons fluttering in the wind, till it became one 
bewildered scene of tumult and confusion. 

For some time we could not tell which party 
would come out ahead, though one individual after 
another was seen leaving the ring with his helmet 
off and his piece of wood broken. But at last 
the *' Reds*' rushed into the reserve of the 
** Whites,'* and it looked as though things were 
getting rather hot for the latter. Nevertheless 
the '* Whites'' rallied and drove the '* Reds" into 
their own camp, and then the scene was most ex- 
citing. 

The crash of arms had reached its height, and 
scarcely a thing was to be seen save the dozens of 



A FEUDAL CASTLE. 67 

uplifted swords which rose and fell repeatedly, 
making one think the Japs must have pretty thick 
skulls to withstand such a continuous thumping. 
But at last the color-bearer of the '' Reds" got his 
tripod standard broken, and nearly half his com- 
rades had already been driven from the field. So 
the fray ceased, and the '' Whites" gave a shout 
of victory ! 

The open area of the castle was very much ex- 
posed to storms, and the elevated position of my 
new house gave me the full benefit of thunder 
and lightning, and sometimes of a typhoon. One 
Friday night we had a most terrific thunder- 
storm. It awoke the whole city from sleep, and 
at midnight raged with such fury as to threaten 
the frail Japanese houses with destruction. The 
rain poured in torrents, and was driven in every 
direction by the wind. The flashes of lightning 
followed each other with such rapidity and daz- 
zling brightness that the whole neighborhood 
was one blaze of light, and the thunder shook the 
earth v/ith its repeated reverberations. Such a 
succession of flashes I never saw — first here, then 
there, then everywhere, lighting up the sky with 
a ghastly and insupportable glow. The clouds 
were black and heavy, hanging very near the 
earth, while thunder and lightning came so close 
that sound and flash blended into each other with 



68 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

a rattle and roar that shook the house and bed on 
which I lay, causing me to quake in sympathy 
with them. The lightning struck a tall '* fire- 
proof " storehouse near by, setting it in a blaze 
notwithstanding the pouring rain. This building 
belonged to a covetous and rich old man, who 
kept all his goods locked up here, secure from fire 
or robbers from without ; but the Japanese after- 
wards said that the fire of heaven ** fell into'* the 
storehouse for his withholding from the poor the 
food they so much needed. 

I often thought of placing a lightning-rod on 
one of the tall trees near my house, as the posi- 
tion was very much exposed ; but the Jap carpen- 
ter had never heard of such a contrivance for 
"'catching fire from heaven, '* and I could not 
prevail upon him to put one up. 

The storm finally passed off to the north-east, 
marking its course with the same vivid forks of 
light ; while behind it left the blazing building, 
whose flames leaped higher and higher as the rain 
ceased, lighting up the scene with a different kind 
of glare. 

The deep-toned gongs of the various temples 
chimed in one after the other, giving their musical 
but mournful signals of the fire-alarm. At' one 
time it looked as though the conflagration would 
become general, like another fire we had a short 



A FEUDAL CASTLE. 69 

time before, which laid waste quite a section of 
the city. But the '* fire-proof '' walls were thick 
and massive, and served to keep the flames in- 
closed, though they towered to a great height. 
As I looked about the outskirts of the castle walls 
everybody was turning out to the fire, and for a 
time there was a perfect procession of men and 
lanterns passing the house. But, true to their 
Jap instinct, there was no haste or hurry. They 
were as slow about this as about every thing else, 
and they all walked as though it would have been 
a sin for them to run even to a fire. 

Soon the fire flickered away, darkness came 
again, and was only broken when the sun rose 
and gave us the morning as bright and clear as the 
night had been dark and terrible. 

I close this chapter with a letter written by my 
good missionary friend, Rev. James Ballagh, of 
Yokohama, who came to see me in the summer of 
1873, and who sent home an interesting descrip- 
tion of the surroundings and historical associa- 
tions of my house within the old Tycoon's castle. 

" Shidzuqka, Japan, September 2, 1873. 

" Yes, here I am, after a week's journey through baffling 
storms and floods. 

* ' We were storm-stayed two days at Fujiyama, spent a day 
and a night in a hut on the mountains, and were detained a day 
and a half by flooded rivers, yet we had a very enjoyable time. 



70 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

What with the company we fell in with, and the abundance and 
variety of good cheer provided in the shape of preserved meats 
and fruits, we have not lacked what was requisite to stay up the 
outer or inner man. 

** I set out with brother Clark, partly to make experience of 
his trials in living in the interior, partly for a change, and partly 
to visit the homes and families of some of my Christian pupils, 
whose fathers reside at this place ; and my highest anticipations 
have been more than realized. 

*' I feel grateful to my Heavenly Father for what his hand has 
here wrought. Let materialists try to legislate God out of his 
own universe, they cannot put him out of his wonder-working 
providence, nor out of the joyous confidence of the humblest 
believer. I feel this conviction very strongly here in this Chris- 
tian home and its surroundings. It is located in the province 
of Surunga, which boasts not only of its ' peerless' Fujiyama, but 
of being the birth-place and home of leasu^ the founder of the 
last dynasty of Tycoons. He was not only a great general, the 
friend and ally of the Great Taiko Sama — the George Washing- 
ton of Japan — but was his successor in the government. This 
was his ancient capital. Here was his castle. Later he built 
Yedo, and made that the great northern capital of Japan. To 
it he brought together all the princes of the empire ; there he 
compelled them to build palaces, and reside half of their time, 
alternating between the provinces and the capital. There he in- 
stituted a system of court etiquette, of counter-checks in gov- 
ernment, etc., that truly entitled him to the appellation of the 
Jefferson of Japan. After his death he was buried at Kuno, 
near Shidzuoka, and here, at the splendid temples erected in his 
memory, he was worshipped as Great Go Ngen Sama. 

** What makes his memory most important to us is that he 
formed the laws against Christianity that have existed without 
change for nearly three centuries. His predecessor, Taiko, per- 
secuted the converts, and by the third Tycoon they were ex- 
terminated. 



A FEUDAL CASTLE. 7 1 

*' His last successor, the seventeenth from leasu, now lives 
here in exile. 

' * Now the evidence that this is of God is shown by the re- 
markable change of government that took place when the last Ty- 
coon was in the height of his power, and the results that have fol- 
lowed strike the most incredulous as the wonderful work of God. 

" Here is my friend's home — the house a perfect gem of beauty 
and durability in itself, occupied by a young, joyous, decided 
Christian, with every room in it emblazoned with mottoes — 
located within leasu' s old castle grounds, as a tower of Chris- 
tianity and civilization, on the very corner of the moat ! And 
there, if you lack further proof of what God has wrought, raise 
your eye to that well-filled bookcase standing in the room in 
which I write, with one shelf entirely filled with Bibles, and the 
others with works of * science and religion ;' while above the 
bookcase stands one of the board tablets on which is written the 
old edict against Christianity, and which by the late order of 
government has been removed from the public crossways, and 
now hangs up, as a memento of God's wonderful doings, in this 
Christian parlor. Yes, * God reigns ! ' * Let the earth re- 
joice ! ' * None that ever put their trust in him shall be asham- 
ed,' ' In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.' Am I not 
right in feeling as in the presence of the wonder-working God 
in view of these things ? 

* * Then I wish to note the decided Christian character of the 
house. Here are illuminated texts beautifying the walls, and 
speaking of ' Faith, Hope, and Charity,' of * God is my salva- 
tion,' and giving * Glory to God in the highest,' and on earth pro- 
claiming * Peace and good-will to men.' Here in every room 
hang hymns, texts, and daily promises ; Christian works of prac- 
tical piety lie side by side with those of science. This is as it 
ought to be, but alas ! is seldom found elsewhere. 

" September 3. 
** I should close my letter before leaving this delightful home, 



72 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

but as it is now late, and I must start at dawn, it will be impos- 
sible to say all I could wish. Yesterday and to-day we spent in 
visiting scenes of interest in the locality, including the famous 
temples and the tomb of leasu, situated seven miles from here, 
on the sea-shore facing the Pacific, and located high up on a moun- 
tain — a flight of stone steps twelve feet wide winding up across 
the face of the lofty bluff, with hand railings of massive ma- 
sonry. The temple where he is worshipped and the tomb it- 
self are of wonderful workmanship. 

* ' A lofty five-story tower has just been sold by order of gov- 
ernment, and removed, although it was the crowning glory of 
this sublime mausoleum. This is owing to the tower being an 
emblem of Buddhism, and the government is trying to do away 
with it in favor of Shintoism. leasu had been a great patron of 
Buddhism. Its priests had given him aid in war, and he re- 
warded them in peace by making Buddhism the state religion. 

* ' The removal of his dynasty, together with the system he es- 
tablished, is again the wonderful work of God. Mr. Clark tried 
hard to purchase material enough of the tower to make the pulpit 
of the first native Christian church in Japan. They were eager 
to sell, but finding we wanted it much they went up propor- 
tionately on the price. 

** This afternoon I spent a couple of hours in the laboratory 
connected with the school. Here, too, were the walls illuminated 
with Scriptural and other appropriate texts. Over the clock and 
over the door was ' God bless our school, ' supported by * Prove 
all things, hold fast that which is good,* * Let not your heart be 
troubled,' 'Peace I leave with you,' 'Speak the truth,' etc. 
Maps of the United States, presented by Commodore Perry 
twenty years ago, grace the v/alls. Rare works fill the library. 
Two immense Holland atlases of over one hundred years old 
show all parts of the then known world with a remarkable fidelity. 
All the maps had names written in Chinese characters on gilt 
paper, and pasted over the countries, showing that they had 
been carefully preserved for the Tycoon's use. 



A FEUDAL CASTLE. 7Z 

*' The opening hours of school exercises were spent in sing- 
ing ' Just as I am,' * I was a wandering sheep,' * Joyfully, joy- 
fully,' * From all that dwell,' and numerous other Sunday-school 
hymns. The boys first repeated the verses from memory with 
great ease and propriety. They sang well, brother Clark play- 
ing the organ and leading them. The long-metre doxology was 
on the black-board. It was their last exercise in closing. I 
gave them a Japanese translation of it, which I had made for 
our own use in Yokohama, and they sang it at once, and 
seemed pleased with it, the first time I presume they have ever 
heard God's praise attempted in the Japanese language," 



10 



CHAPTER V. 

EXCURSIONS AND COMICAL EXPERIENCES. 

The sights and scenery of a country can best 
be studied by roaming around on foot, and going 
to out-of-the-way places where primitive customs 
prevail, and where nature has had full play. Oc- 
casionally I would take a holiday and tramp off 
among the mountains, or go on hunting expedi- 
tions through districts never before visited by a 
foreigner. At other times I would be sent for to 
make some scientific researches in a neighboring 
province, where black stones suggested the prox- 
imity of coal, or shining fragments of iron or cop- 
per pyrites were kindled, by the Japanese imagi- 
nation, into hidden mines of gold. ** All is not 
gold that glitters,'* would be my usual response 
to the yellow missiles sent to me for analysis. 
Sometimes I was sent for to vaccinate a baby. 
Small-pox is very prevalent in Japan, and I was 
supposed to be equal to every emergency, whether 
to vaccinate a baby, find a coal mine, teach a 
school, build a house, or measure a mountain. 



COMICAL EXPERIENCES. 75 

One day in July I started off on an excursion 
with a party of my students to visit a famous 
Water-fall thirty miles distant, located in the 
region south-west of Fujiyama. I knew the 
young men needed exercise, for they studied too 
hard and walked too little ; so I planned that we 
should make the tour on foot after leaving the 
high-road, and I knew that no kind of conveyances 
could be obtained there for such as were inclined 
to be lazy. 

We got along very well until the latter part of 
the afternoon, when, after traversing a great tea 
district, and resting at the ruins of an ancient 
Buddhist temple, one of the most beautiful I ever 
saw, we entered the rolling and hilly region lead- 
ing towards the magnificent slope of the *' Match- 
less Mountain.'* 

Here we were overtaken by a storm, and the 
wind and rain nearly drenched the romance out of 
us. We entered the woods and made our way as 
fast as the steep and slippery nature of the ground 
would admit, hoping to arrive at some habitation 
where we might rest and spend a comfortable 
night. The water-fall was only three miles away, 
but as the rain was too much for us we decided 
to put off visiting it until next morning. The 
whole region abounded in rapid streams and mini- 
ature cataracts, and as we trudged along we could 



76 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

hear the thumping of a Japanese water-wheel 
turning on its rude axle and driving a heavy 
wooden hammer by means of projecting spokes, 
which pounded the rice into powder. Usually 
the rice is pounded into flour in the w^ay shown 
in the accompanying illustration, where a man 
stands all day in the sun and pounds the rice in a 
wooden mortar with a large wooden hammer. It 
is very hard work, but he gets used to it, and 
simply stops now and then to wipe the perspira- 
tion from his naked body. The man in the pic- 
ture has as much clothing upon him as most of 
the country people wear in the summer. 

We passed Japanese farmers ** ploughing'' in 
the field. One man guided the plough, while 
another led the horse. But the men, the horse, 
and the plough were all in two feet of water and 
mud, and presented a ridiculous appearance as they 
rushed back and forth in the miry field, with the 
rain pouring upon them, and with only straw hats 
and straw coverings over their bodies. When the 
rice field is stirred up into a perfect mush of mud 
they consider it fit for planting. 

At last we arrived at a thatched-roof farm- 
house, which our guide said was the best place in 
that neighborhood for us to spend the night. But 
the two old women of the house did not welcome 
us very warmly, and said they had nothing for us 



COMICAL EXPERIENCES. 77 

to eat, and no good place for us to sleep. We 
were not going to be driven out again into the 
rain and cold, however, so we said we would man- 
age to get along, and told the old folks to get a 
hot bath ready and then give us some supper. I 
was wet to the skin when I arrived at these un- 
comfortable quarters, and as there was not a thing 
for me to put on, I knew I must catch a severe cold 
unless I could manage to get my clothes dry. So 
I told them to build a good fire, and then said I 
would get into the hot bath and wait patiently 
till one of the students dried my clothes. Their 
bathing arrangements were of a decidedly primi- 
tive order ; nevertheless I had to make the best 
of the circumstances. The bath-tub was a round 
wooden concern, with a little copper oven placed 
in its side, and in this oven a little fire was built, 
so that the person bathing and the fire itself are 
literally in the bath together ! This big tub stood 
— not in some private corner, as you would im- 
agine, but directly in the centre of the house, and 
in the most conspicuous place, close to the en- 
trance door. Grouped about it were the women 
and children, all waiting for the fun of seeing the 
Tojin get into his bath ! But modesty is at a dis- 
count in this part of the world, and I could not 
stand shivering in the cold while my wet clothes 
were drying ; so after one or two futile attempts to 



78 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

drive the spectators away, I made a bold dash 
and succeeded in submerging myself in the scald- 
ing contents of the tub ! 

Here I thought I would be at ease for awhile ; 
but I found as I reached the bottom of the tub 
that the mud of the region was by no means con- 
fined to their rice-fields, for such a slimy tub I 
never had the misfortune to be in before, and I 
wanted to get out immediately. Besides, the 
water smelled as though they had been boiling old 
fish in it, and if I turned about now and then to 
get a fresh sniff of air, I was sure to strike my 
legs against that hot copper oven with the fire .n 
it ! Then I would give a jump, but as I appeared 
above the rim of the tub a dozen eyes would be 
fixed upon me to see what was the matter. Now 
and then a farmer or neighbor would come in at 
the door, and be transfixed with astonishment at 
the strange apparition which greeted him in the 
tub. Not that the sight of cuticle was by any 
means new to him, but such a chalky creature as 
the one before him had never appeared in his zo- 
ological experience ; and many of the farmers 
rubbed their eyes, as they came in and out, to see 
whether it were a ghost or not. 

At last the clothes were dry, and I arose from 
the tub a little wiser, if not cleaner, from the 
operation. But hardly had I stepped out of the 



COMICAL EXPERIENCES, 79 

water before another person stepped in, and 
when he was through still another followed, till I 
counted during the evening at least a dozen 
different individuals who bathed in that same tub, . 
and in the same water, one right after another ! 

The next thing on the programme was supper ; 
but supper they had none to give us, and this was 
not the most agreeable information, inasmuch as 
we were cold and hungry, and had walked fifteen 
miles without any thing to eat. We also knew 
that we must walk the same distance next day, 
and it was necessary for us to get something sub- 
stantial with which to build up our energies. One 
of the students proposed therefore to the old 
farmer, when he came in, that he should kill a 
chicken and make soup for us. But the old fellow 
shook his head in horror at the very idea of it, and 
whispered that it was well known to all the people 
of the region thereabouts that whosoever killed a 
fowl would have his house destroyed by the gods, 
and he besought us not to ever speak of such a 
thing lest destruction should be brought upon 
him. Neither could he be prevailed upon at first 
even to cook some eggs for us ; but we tried to 
prove to hirfi that eggs were not chickens, so at 
last he yielded, but said we must not eat them ! 

After a scanty supper of eggs and rice, and the 
poorest tea that ever was put over a fire, we pre- 



8o LIFE IN JAPAN, 

pared ourselves for bed. But going to bed in 
Japan is rather an indefinite expression for any- 
one accustomed to sleep between sheets and com- 
forters and upon snowy pillows. In fact you do 
not ** go'* to the bed at all, but the bed, such as 
it is, simply comes to you ; and the style of prepar- 
ing for the night is about the same wherever you 
are. First, a cotton-stuffed mat is laid anywhere 
upon the floor, and a block or roll is placed at one 
end to rest (?) your head upon. Then you lie 
down, and a cotton-stuffed quilt is thrown over 
you. 

This quilt is like a Jap dress on a big scale, with 
large and heavily stuffed sleeves which flap over 
you like wings. But the difficulty is that these 
capacious sleeves, with all the rest of the bedding, 
contain unnumbered legions of voracious fleas 
hid away in recesses known only to themselves, 
but which only wait till you get fairly nestled in 
sleep when they begin their onslaught on their 
defenceless and helpless victims. Awakened by 
the merciless havoc they are making upon you, 
it is in vain that you roll and toss and shake your 
clothes till you are wearied out ; that only in- 
creases the vigor with which they renew the bat- 
tle, and though you may spend hours in the faint 
glare of the primitive oil-lantern, which is set in 
one corner of the room, and strive to rid yourself 



COMICAL EXPERIENCES. 8 1 

of the tiny tigers that are devouring you, it is all 
to no purpose, and you sink down at last asleep. 
But you are soon awakened again, only to under- 
go the same tribulation, and the long hours of 
night pass away as you pace up and down the 
narrow limits of the room listening to the snoring 
of the dozen or more tough-hided sleepers who 
surround you, and peep through the sliding shut- 
ters of the house to see if day is breaking or not. 
You cannot lie down again, for the floor is crawl- 
ing with the creatures you dread, and you cannot 
sit down, for there is nothing to sit upon, and 
such a thing as a chair was never heard of in that 
region ; neither can you take even a sniff of fresh 
air on the balcony, for the house is boxed up en- 
tirely with the windowless and doorless sliding- 
shutters, which you strive in vain to force open. 
Besides, the rain pours in torrents outside, and 
you would only be drenched in any attempt to 
change the situation. Such was the miserable and 
tiresome night I passed after the day's fatigue 
which preceded it. The morning found me sleep- 
less, tired, and hungry, and with scarcely a square 
inch of my body which was not covered with bites 
innumerable. The rain was still pouring outside, 
and our prospects for the day were not very cheer- 
ful. Nevertheless we laughed at our misfortunes, 
and began tramping off again over the hills, though 

11 



82 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

it was with difficulty we could keep our feet, for 
the paths were steep and slippery, and the wind 
blew the rain in our faces till we were half blind. 
We were bound to get to the water-fall which we 
had set out to see, though we had hardly reckoned 
upon such an abundant ** water- fall ' * as that 
through which we were now passing. 

As we drew near, the roar of many waters 
greeted us, and the sound grew louder and deeper 
as we passed under the dripping foliage and de- 
scended the precipitous and rocky path which led 
us to the bottom of a wild, romantic-looking 
canon, completely shut in by steep rocky walls 
nearly a hundred feet high. 

The main water-fall was situated at the inner- 
most end of the circular-shaped gorge in which we 
stood, and though its height was not more than 
sixty or seventy feet it was very beautiful. The 
amount of water was considerable, and it fell in 
one solid column, which struck with great force in 
the oval basin below. The noise was almost deaf- 
ening, because the sounds reverberated from the 
walls of the gorge which encircled us with a cir- 
cumference of not more than five hundred feet. 
The Japs call this fall the great *' White Rope,*' 
and the little fall close to it they call '* Silver 
Threads,'' because there are so many of them 
spinning down over the rocks. The main fall re- 



COMICAL EXPERIENCES. 83 

minded me somewhat of the Staubbach in Switzer- 
land, for there are surely a thousand miniature 
fountains which leap from the rocky precipice to 
the right of the main fall, and these add greatly 
to the beauty and romance of the scene. Just to 
the left, also, there is a *' Bridal Veil '' fall— thin, 
smooth, and transparent in its airy descent. 
There is a rich border of foliage inclosing the 
whole gorge, and setting off the falls, the foam, 
and the cataracts to great advantage. It is, on 
the whole, the prettiest spot I have seen in Japan. 

The ex-Tycoon lived not far from my house, 
near a temple founded by his illustrious ancestors. 
He was very fond of hunting and hawking, and as 
I wanted to make his acquaintance and see his 
trained hawks, I sent him a pretty chromo of a 
hunting scene and invited him to take tea with 
me. 

He replied very politely in an elegant per- 
fumed note, written with his own hand, saying 
that he wanted to come and see me in my new 
house, but that political difficulties were in the 
way, for he was an exile. He thanked me for the 
invitation, and for kindness in teaching his people ; 
and as a slight token of his regard sent me an im- 
mense aquarium bowl made of the finest China- 
ware, and carried by four men. The bowl was 
beautifully ornamented with blue waves, fishes, 



84 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

and turtles, and was so large that I sat in it and 
had my photograph taken ! *' Sam Patch '* at- 
tempted to extemporize a bath-tub out of this 
bowl one day by putting several gallons of hot 
v/ater in it, when it exploded with a terrific noise, 
frightening the wits out of poor Sam, and leav- 
ing me only fragments of my present from the 
Tycoon ! 

Not succeeding in securing a hawk hunt with 
the Tycoon, I started off on a grand boar hunt in 
a wild mountainous section of the country, where 
no foreigner had ever penetrated before. I left 
the students behind this time, as they could not 
stand the fatigue, and took my most reliable guard 
with me. The governors of the province gave me 
guides, and ordered nearly two hundred armed 
men of that section to go with me and beat up 
the game. 

When I reached the neighborhood of the hunt-, 
ing ground, I found myself at the head of a small 
army of wild-looking Japanese farmers, who car- 
ried old-fashioned guns which they fired with a 
slow match. They had never seen a foreigner, 
and gazed at me with as much curiosity as I did 
at them and their queer guns. 

On arriving at the hunting ground we discov- 
ered several deer standing under a tree on top of 
the hill. The men divided into three parties and 



COMICAL EXPERIENCES, 85 

soon surrounded the three ravines in which the 
hunt was to take place, and through which they 
were to beat along in the underbrush, driving the 
game before them. I stood on a low cliff, at the 
base of which the ravines converged, and shot at 
the game started from the bush when I could do 
so without endangering the men below. The 
hunters were all hidden in the underbrush and tall 
grass, but the noise they made was frightful ; they 
yelled like demons, and fired their guns incessant- 
ly, while the dogs kept barking furiously as the 
unseen but noisy circle closed slowly upon the 
game within the three ravines. 

Now and then a wild boar would dash out and 
attempt to break through the line of fire by rush- 
ing headlong up the hill. Fifty balls would fol- 
low him before he reached ten paces, and, if he 
were not killed outright, the dogs would dash 
after him ; but the dogs sometimes had the worst 
of it if they happened near his sharp tusks while 
he was yet alive. The frightened deer were 
driven down the glade and died without a strug- 
gle. 

At noon all of the men came together on the 
side of the hill and ate balls of boiled rice which 
they carried in small boxes. This they considered 
a satisfactory dinner ; each ball weighed half a 
pound and had a plum or raisin inside of it. They 



86 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

looked at my cake, crackers, and bread and buttef 
with great wonder. After dinner I made them 
fire a salute of two hundred guns, to hear the 
marvellous echo of the valley and to end the day's 
sport. 

They brought up three wild boars and two fine 
deer, which they laid at my feet, and I said this 
v/as sufficient to supply me with fresh meat for 
some time. The largest boar weighed nearly two 
hundred pounds, and was a fierce-looking fellow ; 
it required eight men to carry him to the city. 

Subsequently I sent my friends and the gov- 
ernors steaks of venison and slices of fresh pork ; 
vv^hile at home I had the first roast meats that I 
had enjoyed for many months. 

In a duck hunt shortly after this, which I had 
in another section of the country, I was not quite 
so fortunate in finding the people friendly. I did 
not know that the feeling against foreigners was 
so bitter there until I had rather dangerous 
proof of it. A small lake nestling among the 
hills had been a resort for thousands of wild ducks 
for a long time. The sound of a gun had never 
been heard there, for it was prohibited, and the 
people of the village near by caught the ducks 
now and then in nets. The day that I went there 
the governors gave the people permission to use 



COMICAL EXPERIENCES. 87 

their guns and hunt with me. They cast very 
savage looks at me, for they hated foreigners. 

When I reached the lake small ambuscades had 
been constructed of bushes and boughs of trees 
along the shore, and the surface of the water was 
literally covered with ducks '* so wild that they 
were tame." As the first volley of shot echoed 
among the hills a myriad of quacking creatures 
rose in a great cloud from the surface of the lake 
and wheeled over our heads in frightened confu- 
sion. The sky was darkened with the feathered 
fugitives, and the noise made by their wings was 
like a mighty rushing wind. Flock after flock 
swept in graceful curves through the air just above 
us, their white breasts flashing for a moment in 
the sun, and their wings in such rapid motion that 
they fanned our faces as they flew past and settled 
again slowly upon the surface of the water. 

The lake had always been their quiet home, 
and they knew not whither to flee ; besides, their 
enemies were completely hidden by the thick am- 
buscades. Another volley soon started them again, 
and they rose in the air leaving many of their 
dead and wounded companions upon the surface 
of the lake. Now their flight became swift and 
broken, and as they passed close above our heads 
we fired indiscriminately into their midst, caus- 



88 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

ing the flocks to scatter in frightened confusion. 
Down they came at last upon the death-laden sur- 
face of the water, and so tired were they that they 
simply ducked their heads as shot after shot 
skipped along beside them. The firing continued 
the whole morning, until some of the flocks had 
retreated to a neighboring lake and the sportsmen 
were contented with the fruits of the slaughter. 

At this juncture I was standing on the further 
margin of the lake leaning on my gun, my guard 
having left me for a few minutes, when I heard a 
peculiar whirr close to my head. Thinking it was 
a duck, I turned suddenly and saw the bullet had 
struck the bank beside me, spattering me with 
mud. On looking in the direction from which 
the shot came, I discovered a Japanese in full 
flight with his weapon trailing behind him. I 
knew that he had fired at me, for there were no 
ducks near at the time, and as the fellow was not 
yet out of range I raised my gun to reciprocate 
the compliment. 

Shimojo, my interpreter, was near by, and I 
said to him, '' Shall I shoot ?" '' Yes,'^ he said, 
** for he fired at you ; but we must not hope to 
escape, for they will kill us." 

** Then discretion is the better part of valor,*' I 
replied ; ** for as he missed me, I think we had 
better not punish him.'* 



COMICAL EXPERIENCES. 89 

I lowered my gun and went to the other part 
of the lake, where a dense grove skirted the shore. 
Here I stationed myself near a tree, when whirr ! 
came another shot, skipping across the narrow 
arm of the lake and striking the ground near me ; 
again another came, and I saw my guard lay 
down his gun and run to the water's edge. A 
boy who was standing near by had been shot in 
the calf of the leg, and though we washed the 
wound and sent him to the hospital at Shidzuo- 
ka, he died a day or two after. 

In returning from the lake we happened into a 
perfect nest of small-pox, which I feared more 
than the Japanese swords or bullets ; but fortu- 
nately none of us caught the contagion. 

The people of Todo-mi, a province thirty miles 
south of my own, found a large hill with oil trick- 
ling down its side, and sent some of it to me for 
examination. I found it very good petroleum oil, 
and sent them several of its products obtained by 
distillation ; they were very much pleased, and 
wanted to dig deep wells. The governors of the 
province requested me to come to the oil district 
and tell the people where to dig. Accordingly I 
started off at half-past four one morning, and 
tried to get on the journey before the heat of the 
day came on. Most of the distance we went 
in kangos, so that our progress was slow. It 

12 



90 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

makes one feel like a monkey in a cage to be car- 
ried all over the country in one of these bamboo 
baskets slung upon a stick, and having people 
stare at you as if you belonged to a travelling 
menagerie. However, I soon became used to it. 

We were delayed in crossing the rocky channel 
of a very wide river where the current was swift, 
and our flat-boat, propelled by bamboo poles, 
nearly upset us in the stream. The country 
through which we passed abounded in large 
snakes ; they crossed our path repeatedly, and 
one black fellow, six feet long, coiled up on a foot- 
bridge and would not let the coolies pass. One 
of my bearers poked him gently with a stick, 
whereupon his snakeship moved slowly away into 
the marsh. 

On arriving at the village I inspected the oil 
district carefully, and then selected the spot where 
I thought they ought to dig. Subsequently they 
sunk an artesian well, and struck oil in great 
abundance. 

Before daybreak the next morning I was on 
my way back to Shidzuoka. Early as it was, the 
yaconims, or officials of the village, escorted us 
with gayly-painted lanterns to the end of their dis- 
trict, and then squatted on the ground, bowing 
their heads and heaving such deep sighs of re- 
spect that we almost regretted leaving them. 



COMICAL EXPERIENCES. 91 

We were now passing along the sea-shore, and 
the early morning scene was perfectly enchanting. 
The gray mist still hung upon the face of the 
water, and the air was so peaceful that scarcely a 
wave rippled the surface of the ocean. Soon the 
sun rose. At first only a rim of light was to be 
seen slowly rising from the Pacific, then it began 
to glow into a great dome of fire, and finally the 
whole round orb v/as seen floating in the mist 
like a fairy world. 

A few months afterwards a delegation of old 
men came to see me from the oil province, to 
thank me for going there, and to report that they 
were getting several hundred gallons of oil daily. 
These old men were dressed in the old-fashioned 
style, never having seen any foreign innovations, 
and I thought I would impress them with the 
wonders of the outer world by taking them into 
my laboratory. They looked in great astonish- 
ment at the performances of the electric machines, 
air-pump, steam-engine, and the model of a small 
saw-mill which I had just constructed ; but what 
excited their interest more than any thing else was 
a small toy wagon wound up by clock-work, which 
had recently been sent to me from America as 
a present to a young Japanese. This wagon I 
wound up without their knowing it, and placed it 
under an inverted tub in the middle of the room ; 



92 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

then I asked one of the old men to lift up the tub. 
Away went the tin horses and wagon, pranc- 
ing around the room before the astonished eyes of 
the old men, until, after making several complete 
circuits, and doing, apparently, whatever I told 
them, the tin horses stopped at my feet. The 
old men looked at each other in wondering silence 
a few minutes, and then said they didn't know 
** whether those painted horses were pulling the 
wagon, or the wagon was pushing the horses !'* 

They went home to dine with me, when their 
surprise was still more augmented at the strange 
things to eat ; and they returned to their prov- 
ince saying that it would take the rest of their 
lives to tell the wonders they had seen. 

My scientific experiments were a constant source 
of delight to the Japanese, for they are fond of 
any thing practical ; and although my students un- 
derstood the laws and principles concerned, the 
common people were bewildered and amazed. 

I gave a series of experiments one day in my 
lecture-room before the governors of the province 
and a large number of people who came in from 
mere curiosity. I wanted to show the officials my 
model saw-mill, having a small circular saw run by 
a diminutive steam-engine. I told them it was a 
pity to see dozens of men and boys with long 
hand-saws sweltering and working the whole day 



COMICAL EXPERIENCES. 93 

in sawing boards from a single log, as I had seen 
them do in building my house, when a modern 
saw-mill could perform ten times the amount of 
work in half the time. They watched my little 
machine as it cut rapidly through small sticks of 
wood, and then said it was very wonderful ; but, 
if they were to establish such a saw-mill in 
Shidzuoka, it would be mobbed or raise a riot 
among the workmen. 

I never witnessed a more ludicrous sight than 
the effects produced upon the Japanese by some of 
my experiments. The innocent manner in which 
they stepped up to the various electric machines, 
and did whatever they were told, was only ex- 
celled by the dumb astonishment or the frantic yell 
with which they received the electric shock. No 
visible effect, however great, upon the first who 
wanted to take hold was sufficient to restrain the 
intense curiosity of those who wished to follow. 
They wanted to feel for themselves, and their 
ambition was usually satisfied after one trial. 

Two of the governors took a ** spark'' from one 
of the machines, but the third was very dignified 
and would not deign to come up to the table, as 
it was contrary to strict etiquette. So I politely 
offered to bring him some electricity in a bottle. 
He doubted whether that could be done. In 
order to dispel his doubts, and also to bring him 



94 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

down to the level of ordinary mortals, I took a 
large Leyden jar, which I charged full of electri- 
city, and brought it to him with good grace. He 
looked at the jar, and seeing nothing in it con- 
cluded to touch the brass knob at the top. The 
effect may be better imagined than described, 
only he didn^t show any more dignity or touch 
any more jars that day ! 

There were a number of Samourai gentry on 
the back seats, who do not like foreigners very 
well, but who looked on very wisely, as though 
they understood every thing that was going on. 

As they declined to come up to the table like 
the other people, or to touch any of the instru- 
ments, I thought I would close the entertainment 
by sending them a few electrical compliments. 

At my request they all joined hands with great 
glee, thinking they were too far away to get 
hurt. I then connected my large Ruhmkorff* s coil, 
which is a very powerful machine, with a battery 
hidden in the closet, and took the long wires to 
the Samourai gentlemen at either end of the line. 
They innocently took the wires, and the next 
moment I touched the key of the coil, and sent 
them an electric shock which tumbled the whole 
of them over among the benches ! 

The Japanese musicians of Shidzuoka favored 
me with several '* concerts,'' which were as mar- 



COMICAL EXPERIENCES. 95 

vellous to me as some of my performances were 
to them. Their instruments were well made, but 
very curious. They were mostly stringed instru- 
ments, fifes, and drums. 

Seating themselves upon the floor, the musi- 
cians would play together, making a chaos of 
sound beyond description. 

It seemed like a chorus of wild animals sud- 
denly let loose, I could not keep from laughing, 
although I wanted to appear polite. There was 
no *' tune" to the music, and when they atteiiiplcd 
to sing the effect was rather monotonous. 

After the ''concert'' I gave the musicians a 
supper, which they enjoyed, showing their appre- 
ciation of the good things by filling their sleeves 
with them to take home to their families. 

This is the Japanese custom, and they think it 
very proper. 

The musicians were pleased with my melodeon ; 
they wanted to know where the music came from, 
for they could not see any strings. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE ASCENT OF FUJI-YAMA. 

The Japanese have an old legend, that their 
magnificent mountain Fuji-Yama rose from the 
^3rcii lii a single night, and at the same time a 
great depression formed in a distant province, 
which filled with water and became the beautiful 
Lake Biwa. The mountain has always been held 
in superstitious reverence, and the people perform 
pilgrimages of hundreds of miles that they may 
stand and worship upon the sacred summit. 

Early in the spring, when the snow has melted 
on the mountain, the ascent is comparatively 
safe, and several days are usually allowed for 
the undertaking. Later in the year, as winter 
approaches, the mountain becomes well-nigh in- 
accessible. Its cone-shaped peak is shrouded in 
snow during ten months of the year, and fleecy 
clouds are continually chasing each other around 
the icy slope, or piling themselves in a peculiar 
pyramidal form on the mountain-top. Some- 
times, when the sky is perfectly cloudless else- 



THE ASCENT OE EUJTYAAIA. 97 

where, a cap, curved like a dome, and formed 
from a single white cloud, will rest for hours upon 
the head of Fuji, crowning the sacred mountain 
with additional glory, and presenting a picture of 
surpassing beauty, as the snowy peak and the 
white cloud appear against the deep-blue back- 
ground of the sky. 

Fuji-Yama rises from the midst of an immense 
plain, and though smaller mountain ranges are 
seen on all sides, it stands absolutely alone in the 
grandeur of its proportions. Its summit is visible 
a hundred miles away, and the Japanese have con- 
structed a large map of thirteen provinces, from 
each of which the top may be seen. The view 
presented in the accompanying picture is taken 
twenty miles from the mountain ; in the fore- 
ground are a few farm hovels, and a small stream 
used in irrigating the rice-fields, which are always 
kept under water. 

Since arriving in Japan it had been my constant 
ambition to make the ascent of the '* Matchless 
Mountain \' but circumstances did not favor the 
attempt until the second year of my sojourn in 
Shidz-u-o-ka. Even then I was unable, owing to 
my duties, to select the proper season when pil- 
grimages are made, but was obliged to assail the 
mountain in the midst of storms, and under every 
possible disadvantage. 



9^ LIFE IN JAPAN, 

The first attempt was a failure, and I was forced 
to retreat after spending two days and nights in a 
terrible storm on the side of the mountain. The 
second attempt was successful, and I reached the 
summit and measured the height ; but again I was 
caught in storms and again obliged to retreat. 
Both of these experiences, severe as they were, 
gave me a very satisfactory idea of the mountain 
and its surroundings. The first attempt was made 
on the north side, in company with my friend 
Rev. Mr. Ballagh, previous to his visit to my home 
in Shidz-u-o-ka ; the second attempt was made 
on the south side. 

Mr. Ballagh and I left Yokohama together, and 
travelled two days through an open region of 
country, leaving the usual route of the Tokaido, 
and crossing three mountain ranges ; we then 
passed a broad lava plain which brought us to the 
base of Fuji-Yama. 

The second day we rose by starlight, and 
started off, mounted upon a pair of Japanese pack- 
horses. These pack-horses have huge contriv- 
ances fixed on their backs, which are grotesquely 
called saddles ; upon these the baggage and 
sacks of food for the horse are placed, and firmly 
attached by ropes. You are then made to scram- 
ble to the top of it all as best you may be able ; 
and it is much like being perched on the hump of 



THE ASCENT OF FUJI-YAMA. 99 

a dromedary thus to ride on the back of a frisky 
Japanese horse, who only awaits his chance of up- 
setting you from your exalted position. A Japa- 
nese leads the horse by a loose rope halter ; as 
your straw-shod animal picks his uneven way 
down some steep road or over some rocky moun- 
tain pass, you take your uncertain chance of either 
spinning over his head or sliding over his tail. If 
you happen to meet a few other quadrupeds of 
like persuasion, there immediately ensues a com- 
plimentary interchange of heels and hoofs and 
neighs, that in no wise improves the situation. 

The Hakone range of mountains was on our left, 
and before us stood the dark and clouded Oyama 
range, where a dread deity is said to reside ; the 
highest peak of this range is visited by throngs of 
pilgrims, who worship at the shrine, and seek ex- 
emption from dreaded evils, which this frowning 
deity is wont to send upon mankind. Early in the 
morning, before daylight had dawned, we heard 
the tinkling bells and deep-toned gongs preced- 
ing the mournful worship on this mountain. 

We crossed a river in the afternoon, where fine 
fish are caught by means of a live fish, which the 
Japanese put on the end of a line, and thereby 
entice other fish of the same kind and of gregari- 
ous disposition into nets prepared for their recep- 
tion. 



lOO LIFE IN JAPAN. 

We took dinner at a wayside hotel, where we 
had good accommodations and an hour's rest, and 
on taking leave our host presented his bill to the 
fabulous extent of two cents and a half ! ' 

The districts through which we passed were 
given over to the cultivation of the tobacco plant, 
which thrives here well, and its broad leaves were 
spreading out in every direction. The sugar-cane 
fields were also very numerous, and looked like 
fields of corn twelve feet high. 

Towards evening all vegetation was left behind, 
and we entered one of the most barren and deso- 
late tracts of country I ever saw anywhere. It 
was nothing more nor less than one great series 
of lava-beds, and the soil was like packed coal- 
dust, without any object to direct us. 

Before long we lost our way, and where to go 
or what to do we did not know. The night was 
as dark as pitch, and not a star could be seen, 
while dark and heavy clouds covered the sky. 
The earth on which we trod was blacker than the 
sky above us, and at every step the crispy lava 
crumbled under our feet. The only way in which 
we could pick our path through this trackless 
waste was by watcJmtg for old straw shoes, which 
had been left upon the wayside by pilgrims gone 
before. 

Although the country was level, yet there was 



THE ASCENT OE FUJI- YAM A TO I 

absolutely nothing to be seen in any direction. 
Neither light nor lantern glimmered from afar, to 
guide us even to some lone hut or hovel, where a 
human being could be found to tell us where we 
were. Every thing was as still as death, and not 
a sound nor sight was there to show that we were 
in even remote proximity to a living thing. Not 
a cultivated spot did we meet for miles, and nei- 
ther tree nor shrub was to be seen. 

At last we came to a dead stop, for we had 
arrived on more elevated ground, and a small 
river was heard tumbling through a gully near us. 
The two Japs who were leading our horses knew 
as little about this part of the country as we 
did ; however, they searched over the black fields 
with a little paper lantern, and ere long one of 
them struck upon a path. Following this, we 
passed through some low brushwood, and, turning 
the point of a dark knoll, suddenly found our- 
selves at the entrance of a village. This proved 
to be the place we were seeking, and, tired and 
hungry, we rode down through the long street, 
where the people must have taken us for ghosts : 
we had found it so cold on the lava plains that I 
had wrapped myself in two large sheets, they be- 
ing the only available things I had with me, and 
consequently I looked like a mounted spectre 
come in from the wilderness. 



I02 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

When it was known that we were not ghosts, 
but foreigners, we were asked if we would Hke to 
put up at a temple ; and the offer was eagerly ac- 
cepted, for both of us had once lived in temples, 
and we knew we should feel quite at home. So 
our horses were led into a secluded place among 
tall. trees, where we dismounted, and tumbled in 
haste through the front door of the temple. We 
found things looking quite hospitable inside, and 
were delighted at the prospect of getting good rest 
and sleep. 

The old idol was sitting in the middle of the 
place, in rather gloomy silence, as though he 
didn^t like the idea of his sacred abode being 
made a wayside tavern for TojinSy or foreigners ; 
but we didn't mind what he thought about it, 
but passed along to the table and chairs which 
had been provided for us. Here we had steaming 
pea-soup soon placed before us, the savor of 
which must have been enough to rouse our bronze 
idol friend from his lethargy, had he been suscep- 
tible to any thing better than the incense usually 
burnt before him. The priests were very polite 
and accommodating, and supplied our wants as 
well as they could. After a good supper we 
stretched ourselves upon the clean straw mats, 
and were soon sound asleep. 

Our sleep didn't last long, for at midnight I 



THE ASCENT OF FUJI-YAM A. 103 

was awakened by a general commotion at the 
door of the temple, and amid the glimmer of lan- 
terns I saw a pair of foreign boots stride into the 
room, and heard a whistle of ** Johnny comes 
marching home,*' and then a few loud orders 
given in plain Saxon that there was no mistaking. 
Half asleep as I was, I wondered if Mr. Ballagh 
had got up in a nightmare ; but feeling around on 
the floor I soon found he was still asleep. My 
touch, however, awakened him, and we found 
that two other foreigners had arrived, and that 
they (with about a dozen coolies) were about to 
make themselves as comfortable as circumstances 
would permit. 

We were in no very amiable mood at thus being 
roused from our sleep ; and finding that we were 
not able to secure as quiet a night as we hoped, 
we arose and prepared ham and eggs for breakfast 
at three o'clock, with pineapple for dessert, and 
having ordered the horses we started off again in 
the dark. 

The real ascent of Fuji-Yania now began, and 
passing a temple to the right — dedicated to the 
god of the mountain — we entered a broad avenue 
leading up the slope, and shut in on either side 
by a low and spare growth of sickly-looking pines. 
For nearly six miles there was little of interest 
to notice. The ground was easy to walk upon, 



I04 LIFE IN JAPAN-. 

being composed of the same black ashy deposit of 
lava which we met in the dismal plains below, and 
which reminded me of soft coal granulated to the 
size of large peas. 

As the daylight came slowly on, we could see 
that the clouds were thickening about us, instead 
of diminishing, and that the mist and drizzle 
were changing to a regular storm of rain. How- 
ever, we pushed on to the station, which we knew 
to be a little ahead, and just as the w^eather was 
getting the better of us we arrived at two old 
dilapidated straw shanties, where we set to work 
to make ourselves as much at home as possible. 

As this was the station beyond which horses 
were not able to go, we had our goods unpacked 
and sent the horses away, retaining two coolies 
with us to carry things and make themselves 
generally useful. A small fire was burning on 
the floor of the shanty, and a forlorn-looking Jap 
had a scanty kettle of rice simmering over the 
embers. We piled on plenty of wood, and got 
ourselves well dried, and then spreading a straw 
mat and plenty of newspapers on the ground, we 
lay down and went to sleep. After a few hours 
we got up, and attempted to take observations 
on the situation ; but as we were still in the 
midst of clouds and mist, we could see nothing, 
and the rain continued to pour worse than ever. 



THE ASCENT OF FU/I-YAMA, 105 

At this juncture the two foreigners suddenly 
made their appearance, whom we had left snooz- 
ing some hours before at the base of the moun- 
tain. ** Misery loves company ;" so we greeted 
them in their wet garments, and put more sticks 
on the fire to give them a warm welcome. They 
were glad enough to avail themselves of the primi- 
tive hospitality offered, and after seating them- 
selves on two empty wash-tubs, formally intro- 
duced themselves as ** Mr. T , of San Fran- 
cisco,'' and '' Doctor X , of New Zealand." 

Before long we all held a council of war as to 
whether we were to attempt storming the heights 
of Fuji-Yama on that day or not. Some of us 
were in favor of pushing on, in hopes of rising 
above the clouds and out of reach of the storm. 
But one or two rain-soaked pilgrims, who came 
trotting down the mountain just then, reported 
heavy squalls of wind and rain near the summit, 
and we were forced to the unanimous conclusion 
that there was no mountain-climbing in store for 
us on that day at least. 

We spent the day in reading, talking, and sleep- 
ing ; and our English friend from New Zealand 
gave us no little information concerning the con- 
dition of affairs down there — where we usually 
consider things rather topsy-turvy, but where, 
judging from his account, they are decidedly right 

14 



io6 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

side up, progressive and hopeful. We were not 
lacking in canned provisions, so that we managed 
to get along quite comfortably, notwithstanding 
the limited accommodations for cooking. 

Towards evening I explored the other shanty- 
situated just below us, and though apparently 
intended for horses, I concluded it would serve 
a better purpose for our camping out over-night 
than the more fragile structure in which we were 
then stowed away. Its roof did not leak so 
badly, and it had a large fireplace on the ground, 
where we could keep up a rousing fire all night, 
and defy both wind, cold, and rain. 

So we made the coolies collect large logs and 
piles of wood, and after making substantial seats 
to sleep upon, we took our traps and occupied our 
new quarters, leaving the coolies to get along as 
best they could in the other shanty. We also 
boarded up our new establishment on three sides, 
for it never had any walls, as it was merely a straw 
roof supported on wooden posts. Here we felt 
quite in luxury ; and as darkness came on and 
the storm increased we had a fire roaring and 
crackling away, which threatened at times to burn 
up our shanty and all that it contained. 

But even in this elevated region our merciless 
foes, the fleas, did not cease from persecuting us ; 
and in order to be rid of them I climbed up on 



THE ASCENT OF FUJI-YAM A, 107 

top of some long poles which were stretched 
across the garret part of the roof, and finding a 
bundle of straw reeds there, I unrolled it, got in- 
side, and went to sleep. It was rather an uncer- 
tain roost to slumber upon, for the poles were a 
foot or so apart, and if I should unconsciously 
roll over or turn around lengthwise, I would 
surely go through. 

Waking up now and then during the night, it 
was a curious scene to look down from my shaky 
perch to the spot where the camp-fire was burn- 
ing brightly. There lay two or three sleepers 
stretched upon boards, and covered with all sorts 
of things imaginable ; and once in a while a 
ghostly form would be seen moving stealthily 
around the fire poking the embers. The rain was 
driving in sheets against our frail habitation, and 
the wind howled mournfully about us. It was 
too cold to roost up on my pole berth for any 
length of time, even though the wind occasionally 
sent me a blast of hot air and smoke from the 
fire ; so every half hour I took to the ladder and 
went down to warm myself, and to put on more 
wood. 

We had a Robinson Crusoe experience of it 
that night, and in the morning the storm had not 
abated in the least, but the rain came down in 
torrents, as though the supply above was inex- 



Io8 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

haustible. We saw it was no use hoping any- 
longer, and now whether to march down the 
mountain again, was the question. Two pil- 
grims, passing by in a sorry plight, reported a still 
more doleful condition of things above, so v/e 
gloomily wrapped ourselves up in large sheets of 
Jap oil-paper, and prepared to descend. I had 
half a dozen copies of Harper s Weekly bound 
tightly about my legs, which gave me quite a 
pictorial appearance ; and when fairly fixed, we 
started on a trot down the slope, leaving the 
coolies to follow with the baggage. The wind 
came in gusts that nearly took us off our feet, and 
the rain was blinding, so that we could scarcely see 
our way. But we made good time, and after an 
hour of thorough drenching we arrived at our 
temple hotel, wiser if not better men. 

Not succeeding in getting over the mountain, 
we had to manage to get around it. So we soon 
started off again through the rain, some in kangos 
and some on horseback, and after six hours* 
travelling we arrived at a village on the Tokaido, 
from which the ascent of the southern side of the 
Hakone Pass is made. When we came to the 
river Fusi-kawa, it was so swollen by the recent 
heavy rains as to be utterly impassable for boats. 
We therefore saw that we must experience 
another check, and settled down to our fate as 



THE ASCENT OF FUJI-YAMA. 109 

best we could. However, it turned out better 
than we anticipated. 

Just as we were starting out to look at the im- 
petuous river, whom should we meet but my 
interpreter, whom I had previously sent ahead 
with provisions and supplies from Yokohama. 
He, too, had been stopped by the freshet, so 
that here we found all our boxes and baggage, and 
could afford to laugh at our empty lunch-basket 
and travel-soiled clothes ; now we had provisions 
enough to stand a siege, and clean clothing 
enough to dress like daimios, or princes. So we 
made merry over our misfortune, and secured 
airy rooms in a quiet place, and fixed ourselves 
up for a sojourn over Sunday, expecting on the 
first of the week to start on our way again. Here 
at Yoshiwara, where we had to pass the Sabbath, 
Mr. Ballagh had two or three preachings during 
the day ; and indeed everywhere we went, with 
inimitable tact and zeal, he scattered gospel 
truth. It was delightful to see how much good 
could be done on a simple jaunt of needed recrea- 
tion, by one intent upon improving, or making, 
opportunities of speaking for the Master. 

Although baffled in this first attempt to ascend 
Fuji-Yama, I by no means gave up, but kept 
watching from a distance, waiting to renew the 
effort whenever the clouds were fairly lifted. 



no LIFE IN JAPAN. 

But it was late in the season, and the rainy- 
weather had set in, so that it was not till the mid- 
dle of September that a real bright day made its 
appearance. However, on the sixteenth it was 
a glorious day, and a holiday at that, being the 
festival of the Mikadoes divine descent, and also 
the day of my leaving Albany for Japan just two 
years before ; so off I started for Fuji-Yama, with 
the wild hope of finding myself at its summit 
within twenty-four hours of leaving Shidz-u-o-ka. 
This feat was really accomplished, but I never 
want to try it again ! 

I left home in the afternoon, reaching the 
river-crossing at Fusi-kawa about dusk. Passing 
over in a boat, I left the Tokaido, and struck 
across the country to Omiya, six miles distant. 
I had with me a guide and a Japanese student, 
whose pedestrian powers were not very promis- 
ing. Arriving at the village, we put up at the 
house of the principal person of the place, who 
was a friend of ours and entertained us very kind- 
ly. I could not sleep though ; and having ordered 
three horses early, we started off again at precisely 
two o'clock, hoping to get well up the lower 
slope, or base, of the mountain before daylight. 
This early morning ride was one of the most 
charming I ever enjoyed ; and even the severe 
fatigue which succeeded it could not detract from 



THE ASCENT OE EUJI-YAMA. i i I 

its romance and beauty. The night was perfectly 
clear, and cool enough to make one's overcoat 
comfortable ; scarcely a cloud bigger than one's 
hand could be seen, and the new moon with its 
pale crescent was just rising as we set out. The 
dark outline of the mountain was before us, 
apparently so near that one might touch it ; yet 
we had to go just twelve miles before fairly reach- 
ing its base, and then ten miles more (as the Jap- 
anese call it) ere reaching the top. 

After riding two hours we came to Mori-yama, 
the last habitable place to be met with. Here 
our road became a mere bridle-path, and en- 
tered a region entirely destitute of cultivation. 
Though this slope of country was not cultivated, 
owing to its elevation, yet it was far from pre- 
senting the dreary aspect of the section similarly 
situated on the northern side of the mountain, 
which I had traversed a few weeks before. In- 
stead of black lava fields covering the earth like a 
pall, there was a broad stretch of land covered 
with long rank grass, presenting an appearance 
not unlike some of our Western prairies at home. 
As we came up higher, the surface became more 
undulating, and ridges had to be crossed. It felt 
home-like up in this region ; for the landscape at 
times had quite a New-England look, and was 
suggestive of many pleasant associations. As the 



1 1 2 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

sun rose, and threw its fresh morning glow over 
it all, the birds began to twitter and sing among 
the branches, while now and then a lark rose on 
the wing, and I could also hear the peculiar 
notes of the robin, which bird I have never be- 
fore seen in Japan. 

With the exception of the twittering of the 
birds, the silence of the place was unbroken ; but 
once we were startled by a chorus of yells, which 
came from a lot of ragged grass-cutters, who live 
a wild kind of life up here, dwelling in huts, and 
carrying hay down to the neighboring villages. 
Soon after we heard the loud report of a gun, as 
these fellows sometimes shoot as well as mow ; 
and the Japanese tell great stories about the deer, 
foxes, wolves, bears, and other animals to be 
met with in the woods. 

At last we arrived at the place where the regu- 
lar ascent of the mountain begins, and beyond 
which the horses could not go. So we sent the 
horses and coolies away, and prepared for the 
hard climb before us. We had anticipated finding 
a place suitable for taking a substantial break- 
fast to start upon. But in this we were disap- 
pointed ; for though there was a dilapidated 
shanty, not a person was to be found, and there 
was nothing to be seen save desolation and dis- 
order. After considerable difficulty we managed 



THE ASCENT OE EUJI-YAMA, 1 13 

to light a fire, and into it I threw a can of mutton 
and peas, for lack of any thing to cook them in. 
The two Japanese ate balls of rice, which they 
happened to have in their pockets, or rather 
sleeves, while I waited for the mutton and peas 
to get heated. But our cooking arrangements 
did not succeed, so we ate things half raw ; and 
after this scanty breakfast started on our way, 
light in stomach, if not in heart. 

The route now lay through dense woods, and 
the path was very narrow, being a mere gully, 
with an abundance of rocks and roots to hinder 
the way. In every respect it was far inferior to 
the smooth path to be found on the other side 
of the mountain ; here and there huge trees 
lay across the way, completely blocking it, and 
broken branches and uptorn roots were scattered 
about, as the results of previous storms. 

The woods became less inviting as we pro- 
ceeded, and many of the trees were old and rot- 
ten, looking as though they could easily topple 
over on us. There was a great variety to be 
met with, and the Jap student was greatly sur- 
prised at seeing trees he had never heard of be- 
fore. The birch-trees looked very curious to 
him; they were unusually large, and their white 
trunks rose up like mighty pillars on all sides. 

The maple was abundant, and the oak and vari- 

15 



114 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

ous species of pine skirted the mountain for a 
long distance. 

All the way up the mountain there are little 
huts or shanties, placed at intervals of half a 
mile or more, and during the pilgrim season 
these shanties are open and occupied by moun- 
tain-keepers, who make a considerable number 
of pennies by furnishing pilgrims with water and 
rice during the day, and a hard floor or mat to 
sleep upon at night. Glad would we have been 
to have had even such humble accommodations 
available to us ; but as we passed one station 
after another we found the occupants gone, and 
every trace of them cleared out for the winter, 
so that not even a cup of water could we get for 
our thirsty lips. It seems the season usually 
closes about the i6th of September, and that 
the mountain-keepers had come down only the 
day before we went up. Consequently we found 
ourselves alone on the mountain, and we scarcely 
knew whether there was a single person within 
ten miles of us. 

This was not very assuring, especially as we 
had nothing left to eat, except a small piece of 
bread and a little sugar. We kept on though, 
and as we reached the fifth shanty we crossed a 
ridge, which gave us an excellent view over the 
tree-tops ; with the aid of the glass we could see 



THE ASCENT OF FUJI-YAMA. 1 15 

an immense distance, the line of sea-coast stretch- 
ing out before us hke a chart. We also took 
a somewhat disheartened look towards the top of 
old Fuji, which now appeared almost in a perpen- 
dicular line over our heads. Something lively 
was evidently going on up there, for the clouds 
were sweeping wildly over the summit, as if to 
shroud it from all intrusion. 

On leaving this station the real climbing fairly 
commenced, and for five hours we worked our 
way up that terrible steep. The pine-trees be- 
came very small and thinly scattered as we 
-ascended, until at last there was nothing left but 
a low, shrub-like growth of fir. These stunted 
little trees, or bushes, were very curious, being 
scarcely a foot high, and showing in every tough, 
outspreading branch the effects of trying to grow 
in the region of hurricanes. Beyond the line of 
vegetation there is absolutely nothing but black, 
coke-like masses of lava and reddish scoriae and 
loose fragments of stone, which roll and slip un- 
der your feet as you proceed, making it ex- 
tremely difficult to walk. 

Before emerging from the woods we were sur- 
prised at meeting a man coming down the moun- 
tain, for we supposed nobody to be nearer us than 
the people of the village we had passed early in 
the morning. But this man reported that a party 



Ii6 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

of half a dozen pilgrims were in a hut a mile or 
so from the summit, waiting their chance to ven- 
ture to the top. They had been there for two or' 
three days, and were entirely out of food, and 
this man was on his way to the village to bring 
them rice. There were also two or three other 
persons at a place not so far up, w^here a shrine 
was situated dedicated to the god of the moun- 
tain. In front of the idols here was an im- 
mense pile of old straw shoes, thrown there by 
hundreds of pilgrims who had been there years 
before. One old man was purposely fasting up 
here, and had a vow not to speak for a certain 
time, thinking thereby to gain the favor of the 
gods. As we kept on up the ascent we heard 
the mournful sound of a deep-toned horn echoing 
through the woods ; the guide said it was blown 
in supplication to the deities to remove the storm 
from the mountain-top, so that the pilgrims 
might go up and worship. 

Finally we came to a low stone hut, where 
the half-dozen pilgrims were huddled together, 
waiting an opportunity to go to the summit. We 
managed to secure a little rice here, which we de- 
voured eagerly ; then I told my two companions 
to come along up the mountain. But the men 
had thoroughly frightened them out of the idea > 
of venturing to the top, and they tried hard to 



THE ASCENT OE EUJI-YAMA. lij 

back out. The roaring of the wind could be dis- 
tinctly heard in the hut as it swept over the sum- 
mit, and they said it was certain destruction to 
go up there ; and that the stones were flying 
through the air by the force of the storm. The 
two Japs said they were already half dead, and 
for some time it was hard for me to overcome 
either their fatigue or fright, and induce them 
to resume the rocky ascent, which now became 
steeper at every step. At last we got a mile far- 
ther up, and had only three more stone huts to 
pass ere reaching the top. It was necessary to 
rest repeatedly, for one's strength failed every 
few rods. 

The path could no longer be traced, and we had 
to clamber on hands and knees over the shapeless 
masses of black lava, and were well bruised if we 
happened to slip. It was hard to keep up suffi- 
cient courage to advance at all, but having fairly 
set out, not only was I determined to reach the 
top, but I was also anxious to obtain accurate 
measurement of the height of the mountain. For 
this purpose I had brought the proper instru- 
ments, which were in my Swiss knapsack, carried 
by the guide. I thought, if possible, I would gain 
the edge of the crater, then make the observations 
with the instruments, and hurry down again. So, 
pushing on in advance of the others, I waited now 



Il8 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

and then till they came in sight (for the gathering 
clouds hid us continually from each other), and 
then I would hurry on again. 

Finally, I passed the last stone hut, and waited 
a few hundred feet above it, on a ridge of black 
boulders, till my companions reached the hut. I 
placed a small American flag (which had once 
waved in Sunday-school processions at home) 
upon the end of my long staff, and signalled my 
companions to come up where I stood. But they 
made great s-houts, and beckoned me to come 
down ; I could not hear what they said, but sup- 
posed they would soon follow, so I passed out of 
sight over the ridge, and with great difficulty 
clambered towards the edge of the crater. The 
wind was now so furious, and I was so utterly ex- 
hausted, that I could not keep my feet, and was 
again and again blown over by the severe gusts. 
I had to nestle behind the big boulders, or in the 
crevices of the lava, to keep from being tumbled 
over the steep places. I managed to gain a com- 
paratively sheltered place, in a gully near the 
crater, and here I sat down by a snow-bank, and 
ate snow, waiting for the guide to come up with 
the knapsack containing my instruments. The 
wind was still furious, and fragments of stone, 
with showers of scorise, whistled by my head, 
causing me to dodge behind a boulder at every 



THE ASCENT OF FUJI-YAMA. 1 19 

fresh gust and fusillade. After waiting half an 
hour, I crawled over to the crumbled and broken 
edge of the crater, where the lava evidently had 
once poured itself out in a vast torrent down the 
steep declivity. A broad, deep gully marked its 
course, and the broken and jagged lips of the 
crater bore many traces of the severe convulsions 
which formerly had taken place there. 

Not wishing to be blown over the edge, I made 
a careful retreat, and reached the snow-bank in 
safety. The temptation to eat saow was very 
great, as I could not stop my thirst ; putting 
some in a handkerchief, I carried it down towards 
my companions. On approaching the stone hut 
where they were last seen I was unable to attract 
their attention ; but supposing they were asleep 
I searched all about the hut. They were nowhere 
to be found, and the suspicion came over my 
mind that they had deserted me, and retreated 
down the mountain. I hardly knew what to do, 
for a storm was gathering below me, and the 
clouds were drifting up the slope into my face ; 
there was no place of shelter, for even the little 
huts were blocked up securely with stones at their 
entrance, not to be opened till after the winter. 

Cold and exhausted as I was, with the guide 
running away, and no visible path to follow, and 
darkness not far off, the prospect was not very 



I 20 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

cheerful ; but what discomfited me more than all 
was the idea of having my instruments carried 
down the mountain, thus rendering all my plans of 
measuring the height futile, just at the moment 
when I had really gained the top ! 

After a great deal of severe tumbling I came in 
sight of the runaways, and made them halt ; I re- 
strained the lively inclination to roll them over 
the nearest precipice, and contented myself with 
scolding one in English and the other in Japa- 
nese. They made a multitude of excuses, but 
confessed they would have gone all the way down 
if they could. One said he spit so much blood 
that he was afraid to go higher, and the other said 
he could not give his life for my instruments. He 
was so faint for want of food, and so exhausted 
from the hardships he had endured, that he had 
fallen many times from weakness, and showed 
his blue and swollen limbs in proof of what he 
said. A friend of one of them had been lost the 
year before on the mountain, by being swept off 
by the wind. This, combined with the stories of 
other victims told them by the pilgrims below, 
frightened them from the attempt at getting any 
nearer the top. 

It was now too late to reach the summit again, 
even if we had strength to do so ; I therefore took 
the instruments and tried to content myself with 



THE ASCENT OE EUJI-YAMA. 1 21 

measuring the height where I was. But we were 
now far down the mountain, and the barometer 
stood a little above 20.50 inches, which would 
give about 11,000 feet; the thermometer was 
fifty-five degrees in the shade (but it was very 
much colder than this at the top). I estimated 
the distance I had descended from the crater, and 
came to the conclusion that Fuji-Yama measured 
a little more than 11,560 feet in height. Subse- 
quent observations, made with greater care, have 
proved that I was nearly right. 

We hurried down the mountain, through the 
storm of rain which now poured up against us, 
until we arrived at Station No. 5. Here we tried 
to obtain something to eat, but did not succeed ; 
so we broke the only piece of bread we had into 
three pieces, and after eating it continued down 
the mountain. Darkness was now coming on 
rapidly, and it was hastened by the heavy clouds 
which shut in upon us, and by the endless waste 
of woods through which we had to pas's. The 
path was broken and rocky, and entangled with 
so many roots that it was very hard to traverse 
after all we had been through. But night was 
already upon us, and our lantern the guide had 
left at the station where we had sent away the 
horses in the morning ; so we must push on, and 
that quickly, otherwise we would soon be hope- 

16 



122 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

lessly shut in for the night in that miserable 
forest, without shelter or covering. How we 
managed to get through I hardly know, for it was 
in total darkness and a drenching rain that we 
emerged at last from the woods and found our 
lantern, which was only a paper one. It was still 
six miles to the nearest village, and not a solitary 
house would we meet on the way ; so as I 
stretched myself on the floor of the hut I felt in- 
clined to stay there for the night. But one of the 
Japs was so afraid of the wolves (!) which fre- 
quented the neighborhood, that he would not lis- 
ten to the proposal ; besides, we could have no 
fire, no light, no food, and no covering, and 
even if we got through the night, we would find 
ourselves too stiff and faint in the morning to 
walk. There was no alternative, therefore, but 
to resume the journey ; so we staggered along 
through the mud and clay, slipping and falling, 
and losing our light every few minutes by the 
wind and rain beating into our paper lantern. A 
weary time we had of it, but at last we arrived at 
the village, and were hospitably received at the 
temple. After a hot bath and a scanty supper I 
found myself stretched on the floor in a spacious 
room, with nothing to disturb me but the rats, 
and soon I was fast asleep. 

We arrived here about eleven o*clock P.M. ; and 



THE ASCENT OF FUJI-YAMA. 123 

as we had started out on the day's undertaking at 
precisely two o'clock in the morning, we had en- 
dured twenty-one hours of almost uninterrupted 
fatigue. 

' In returning from Fuji - Yama we passed 
through the rolling section of country described 
in my visit to the White-Rope Waterfall, where 
comical experiences and primitive bath-tubs 
awaited us at the old-fashioned farm-house. 

In the lower levels of the country, and on the 
sunny hill-slopes facing to the south, we found 
the large tea districts for which this province is 
noted. A very large proportion of the tea ex- 
ported from Japan to the United States comes 
from this Province of Suruga, in which I lived. 
I was therefore much interested in watching the 
cultivation of the tea-plant, and visited the fields 
frequently to see the leaf prepared. 

The tea-bushes are not more than breast-high 
at full growth, and the young plants are quite 
small. When first set out they are allowed to 
grow three years before any of the leaves are 
taken ; after that the leaves are freshly picked 
each season, yet the plant thrives, and lives about 
a man's lifetime. 

The plant is never stripped entirely, but only 
the bright green leaves are plucked which appear 
on top of the bush in the spring and summer. If 



124 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

the older leaves are ever picked, it is simply to 
make a coarser and cheaper quality of tea. The 
very finest quality, and that which costs several 
dollars a pound, even in the province where it is 
produced, is made entirely of the delicate shoots 
found at the tip end of the stem, in early spring, 
just as the tiny leaf is in process of forming. 
These minute shoots are carefully picked first, and 
the leaves below them are gathered afterwards. 

Upon approaching the tea-fields we find num- 
bers of young girls and women scattered among 
the bushes, and busily engaged in filling their 
baskets with the fresh leaves. They are chatting 
merrily together, and to our Yankee eyes it seems 
like a good-sized huckleberrying party in New 
England ; for the style of picking is the same, 
and the bushes are similar, only instead of yield- 
ing berries they bear nothing but leaves. The 
women, young and old, keep their tongues going 
as briskly during the tea-picking as their sisters of 
other climes are accustomed to do at their tea- 
drinking socials ; so that the little leaf begins and 
ends in gossip. 

When the baskets are full, they are taken to a 
long low house where several men are silently at 
work. Here they are boiled about three minutes 
to render them soft and tender, and after being 
pressed between mats and dried a little they are 



THE ASCENT OE EUJI-YAMA, 1 25 

placed in small quantities upon a series of stout 
pasteboard trays or pans, set upon brick ovens 
containing smouldering embers of charcoal and 
straw. 

These queer-looking pans are ranged in rows, 
and are maintained at various temperatures, some 
being so hot that you can barely put your hand 
on them. In front of each pan stands a Japanese, 
working and rolling the leaves between his hands 
and spreading them back and forth, to keep them 
equally heated throughout. The men are fine- 
looking fellows, but are naked as they were born, 
except the little sash around their loins, to which 
their pipe-cases and tobacco-boxes are attached. 

It is here that the hard work of the tea-making 
process is seen. These men stand from morn- 
ing until night over these slow fires, rubbing and 
rolling the leaves between their hands continu- 
ally. The leaves are placed on the hottest pans 
first, when they are moist and green ; but after 
being rolled and partially dried they are allowed 
to cool on straw mats, and then they are placed 
on a second pan, and rubbed and rolled again. 
This process is repeated twenty times or more, 
and is far more laborious than any one would sup- 
pose. 

Gradually the leaves become drier and darker 
in color, and after the last rolling they are spread 



1 26 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

on moderately warm pans, and then placed in 
large baskets. On an average one man will roll 
and dry, in a whole day, as many leaves as would 
fill an ordinary tea-chest. 

The next process consists in sifting and sorting 
the leaves ; this is done in another house, where 
young girls are seated around low tables with piles 
of tea in front of them. Before sorting the tea, it 
is well shaken in sieves of various sizes, to rid it 
of dust and fine particles ; then it is heaped upon 
the tables. Each girl takes her left hand full of 
the leaves, and throws them before her on the 
table, while with her right hand she picks out any 
stray stick, straw, or imperfect leaf, and then 
sweeps the rest to one side. This is done with 
great rapidity, and their fingers move iii the same 
way as a hen uses her beak in pecking at corn. 

The tea is sometimes still further sorted, when 
it is desirable to separate the fine, small leaves 
from the larger ones; the former always consti- 
tute the best qualities of tea, while the latter form 
the chief bulk of that exported to foreign coun- 
tries. Of course the best tea remains in Japan 
and the poorest goes abroad ; but as foreigners 
usually spoil the true flavor with milk and sugar, 
it does not make so much difference after all. 

The exported tea has to be ** re-fired '' at Yo- 
kohama. This is done on an immense scale in 



THE ASCENT OE EU/I-YAAfA. 127 

large stone houses, where hundreds of men and 
women are employed in heating and stirring the 
leaves again, and putting a finishing touch on the 
whole process ; this is absolutely essential to pre- 
serve the tea and render it fit for transportation. 
The fresh tea odors which greet one in passing 
the open windows of these tea-firing establish- 
ments would make some of our old lady friends 
smack their lips with delight. These were the 
pleasant odors that I noticed on first landing at 
Yokohama, and which were mentioned in the first 
chapter. 



CHAPTER VII. 

REMOVAL TO TOKIO. 

The long exile in Shidz-u-o-ka was drawing to 
a close. The Government had determined to 
centralize the educational interests at the capital, 
and the provincial schools were suffered tempo- 
rarily to decline. The old feudal system was 
abolished, the Mikado had transferred his court 
to Tokio, which heretofore had been the capital 
of the military chief, or Tycoon. The latter had 
retired with his retainers to Shidz-u-o-ka, which 
became the St. Helena of Tycoonism. The men 
who formerly ruled Japan were therefore my asso- 
ciates and advisers in Shidz-u-o-ka. But their 
successors at the Mikadoes capital found them- 
selves unable to manage the affairs of govern- 
ment, hitherto left in the hands of the Tycoon. 
They had not the practical skill to guide the ship 
of state with steadiness through the troubled 
waters of political change. 

Therefore they sent to Shidz-u-o-ka and called 
away my friends and my brightest students, as- 



REMOVAL TO TOKIO. 1 29 

signing them important positions at the capital. 
Against this course I protested in a memorial to 
the *' Mom-bu-sho/' or Department of Education. 
The officials replied that Shidz-u-o-ka should feel 
complimented in being called upon to furnish 
young men for important positions in the capital. 
This was cold comfort, and I urged that the best 
students should be allowed to remain until the 
completion of their course. I also argued that 
no education was truly national which disregarded 
the interests of the interior. 

The Educational Department admitted the 
truthfulness of the argument, of which they have 
since experienced the demonstration ; yet my pro- 
tests were unavailing, and the Government con- 
tinued to call away my most valued friends and 
helpers. Katz and Okubo, who had been instru- 
mental in bringing me to Japan, and had always 
been my best advisers, were called to the capi- 
tal ; the former resumed his old position as Ad- 
miral of the Navy, and the latter became Gov- 
ernor of Tokio. Nakamura, Shimojo, and all of 
my foremost students removed to the capital, say 
ing that every thing was now changing in Japan, 
and that I should soon be called away also. 

New governors were appointed over the prov- 
ince, who *'knew not Joseph,'' and my old 
friends faded out, leaving me alone. My enthu- 

n 



I30 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

siasm was dampened in seeing my cherished plans 
thwarted, and the labor of building up any perma- 
nent work appeared in vain. 

I lived alone in the new house during the sec- 
ond year, and the sense of solitude became very 
oppressive. No one lived near me except the 
servants, who occupied the little Japanese build- 
ing near the gate. At night, I sat in my room 
listening to the wind sighing through the pines 
that skirted the embankment of the moat. The 
screech of the night-owl could be heard, and the 
timid bark of the foxes who frequented the ruins 
of the castle. Now and then an earthquake would 
startle my reveries, sending me at a rapid pace out 
upon the balcony, where I had an out-door view 
of the phenomena. The ground shook and 
heaved, the moat trembled, the tree-tops swayed, 
the heavy house creaked and groaned, and the 
windows rattled as though they would break. 
The birds, frightened from their perches on the 
tree-tops, flew wildly around, uttering piteous 
cries ; the mountains looked as though they were 
ready to ** skip like rams, and the little hills like 
lambs.'* But the stars twinkled silently, as 
though they never could shake, and soon all be- 
came quiet again. 

During the long winter evenings the stars were 
my best companions ; I never wearied of studying 



REMOVAL TO TOKIO. 131 

them through my little telescope, and they we^-e 
always found bright and cheerful. 

The country people on the mountains near 
Shidz-u-o-ka sometimes set fire to the long dry 
grass of that desolate region at night. The whole 
mountain chain appeared at times in flames, and 
a fiery circle swept around the *' peaceful hills,*' 
as the name Shidz-u-o-ka signifies. One could 
easily imagine that half a dozen volcanoes had 
broken out, and the first time I witnessed the 
startling scene I thought Fuji-Yama*s volcanic 
fires were starting afresh, and that perhaps Shidz- 
u-o-ka would become another Pompeii. In the 
daytime the mountains looked blackened and 
bare, as though they had gone into deep mourn- 
ing. 

At the close of the second year at Shidz-u-o-ka 
an official order came, calling me to the Imperial 
College in Tokio. 

I did not accept the new appointment very 
promptly, even though my loneliness and exile 
would be at an end, for I should have American 
and English society there. Finally, I submitted 
certain conditions to the Department of Educa- 
tion, which were accepted ; whereupon I prepared 
to remove to the capital. 

The three conditions were afterwards fulfilled 
satisfactorily. The first condition was, that I 



132 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

should have the chair of chemistry only assigned 
to me at the Tokio College ; secondly, that my 
philosophical apparatus should go with me ; and 
thirdly, that a good house should be assigned me 
in place of the one I left at Shidz-u-o-ka. 

Moving in Japan is not very easy work ; but at 
last all my furniture was packed, and sent off to a 
seaport six miles distant, to be shipped on a Jap- 
anese junk. Every thing was done up in straw, 
making huge bundles and bales of every possible 
description. A long train of carts left the house 
one morning, loaded with my household effects. 
Each cart had a naked Jap pulling like a horse in 
front, while a woman pushed the cart behind, and 
children tugged at the wooden wheels, or pulled 
ahead with short ropes. The procession of carts 
made the most ridiculous freight-train I ever be- 
held ; yet these poor people drew the cumber- 
some loads all the way to the seaport, for human 
labor is cheaper than that of horses, and each cart 
only cost half a dollar. 

Six huge boxes containing philosophical appa- 
ratus, which could not be sent by sea, were sub- 
sequently carried on men's shoulders all the way 
to Tokio, over the Hakone Mountains, a distance 
of one hundred miles ! 

The junk was obliged to pass around Cape Idzu, 
a bold promontory, w^hich may be seen in the 



REMOVAL TO TOKIO. 133 

map. This cape is the dread of all the sailors of 
the region, and many a junk each year finds its 
tragic end among the rocky boulders and surging 
waves which encompass the cape. The French 
steamer Nil was lost here ; and one of Commo- 
dore Perry's steamers once grounded on the 
treacherous coast. 

If even foreign ships were thus endangered, I 
had little hope for the safety of my dilapidated 
junk during a stormy winter voyage. The junk 
was only fifty feet long, and the goods were 
stowed away under a bamboo roof, in the middle 
of the boat ; the salt spray dashed over the junk, 
freezing the straw mats into icy coverings, while 
the boatmen shivered around a small fire kept 
burning in the hold. 

Months passed without my hearing any thing of 
the junk, and I finally gave it up for lost, and 
bade farewell to my earthly possessions ; but at 
last it appeared, one frosty morning, among the 
crowded and forlorn-looking craft of Tokio, cov- 
ered with ice and saturated with salt. I was de- 
lighted to see it, however, in any shape ; for it not 
only had my furniture and library on board, but 
hundreds of beautiful presents given in years past 
by the Japanese, which I should have been very 
sorry to lose. 

My journey to Tgkio was rapidly made, com- 



134 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

pared with the time first required in going over 
the same ground, when the yaconims met me at 
every town and village. The Tokaido had be- 
come an old story to me, for I had made the dis- 
tance to Yokohama many times since my first 
journey, and every place on the long road was 
now familiar. 

Once I took a flying trip to Yokohama in com- 
pany with a jumping toothache, which quickened 
my progress considerably, so that the journey was 
made in a day and a half. But then I had the 
ex-Tycoon's horse and carriage, and rode to the 
foot of the Hakone Pass. However, the poor 
horse gave up the ghost the next day, for Japa- 
nese horses cannot endure as much as the jinri- 
kisha men, especially when the driver has a tooth- 
ache ! 

After painful chloroform experiences in Yoko- 
hama, I returned to Shidz-u-o-ka on a steam- 
yacht, formally presented by Queen Victoria to 
the Tycoon ; the United States consul was on 
board the yacht, together with a party of naval 
ofificers from the United States flag-ship Colo- 
rado. They paid me a very pleasant visit at my 
temple-home, where I entertained them as well as 
I could, though half of them had to sleep on the 
floor ; afterwards they went off on a trip through 
the tea district. During their stay at Shidz-u-o- 



REMOVAL TO TOKIO, 135 

ka their bright uniforms greatly astonished the 
country people. They returned by the steam- 
yacht to Yokohama. 

I made many trips on the Tokaido, and excur- 
sions into the neighboring provinces, of which 
there is not space for me to speak. But I cannot 
forbear mentioning the romantic feelings with 
which I finally returned to Yokohama, after being 
shut up so long in the interior of Japan. When 
I first landed in the country, and journeyed into 
the lonely isolation that awaited me so far away 
from friends, it appeared a strange dream, con- 
ducting my senses outside the world and all its 
familiar associations. But when I turned back 
again, leaving the pagan surroundings in which I 
had at last become so much at home, and re- 
entered the business life and social atmosphere of 
a civilized and Christian community, it seemed a 
greater dream than the other ! Yokohama is to 
all intents a foreign city set down upon Japanese 
soil, and although it may look queer and quaint 
enough to all new-comers, from whatever land 
they hail, yet a Jap fresh from the provinces of 
the interior sees more to astonish his awestruck 
eyes than a verdant Vermont youth would expe- 
rience in his first visit to New York City. The 
regular and paved streets, the substantial stone 
houses, the elegant shop windows, the fine equi- 



135 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

pages, the foreign style of dress, and the busy life 
of the people, all combine to produce an effect 
upon the bewildered senses of the country Jap, 
the like of which he never knew before. 

And when he strolls along the water-quay and 
looks out towards those leviathan steamers which 
lie at anchor in the bay, or when, perhaps, he 
goes to the railroad depot and timidly asks for 
his ticket for the next train to Tokio, it begins 
to dawn on his mind that the nineteenth century 
is finding its way into his long-secluded country, 
and that the outside barbarians are not such offen- 
sive creatures after all. 

On entering Yokohama after my long residence 
apart from foreign society, I looked upon the city 
with something of the wonder and curiosity of a 
veritable Japanese ; and the first thing I proposed 
to my companions from Shidz-u-o-ka was a ride 
on the railroad just completed between Yokohama 
and Tokio. 

We saw the locomotive and train coming as we 
turned down the hill towards the city, and the 
naked Japs who pulled our jinrikishas looked in 
astonishment at the smoking locomotive, wonder- 
ing what kind of an animal it could be ! 

In journeying along the Tokaido, the newly 
constructed telegraph followed us the whole way 
from Shidz-u-o-ka, and the little wire seemed like 



REMOVAL TO TOKIO. I37 

a thread that bound me to civilization. The 
country people have a great deal of superstition 
about it, and dislike to have the wire cross their 
rice-fields ; for they say the evil spirits prevent 
the crops from growing. At first the ignorant 
farmers used to cut the wire, and throw stones at 
the glass insulators on the poles ; they would also 
watch the wire for hours to see the messages go 
by ! What the crazy foreigners had stretched 
the wire across the country for, they could not 
imagine ; but at last they ceased to trouble their 
heads about it, and left the telegraph alone. 

But the railroad was far more wonderful ; of 
that they could see the meaning, though the loco- 
motive was entirely beyond their comprehension. 

The road is only eighteen miles long, and there 
is a substantial stone depot at each terminus. 
The Yokohama station is very handsome, and all 
the arrangements are complete. 

When I took my first ride on the railroad I was 
accompanied by a little boy who formerly lived 
with me, and who was now going to his father, 
the new Governor of Tokio. The little fellow 
had never heard of a railroad train, and when we 
were fairly seated in the car he looked around, 
wondering what kind of a little house we were 
in, with its curious doors and sliding windows. 
When the train began moving slowly out of the 

18 



138 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

depot he grasped the seat with a look of terror, 
and glanced anxiously into my face to see if I 
was frightened also. But finding that I only 
laughed at his fears, he regained courage enough 
to look out of the window at the trees and houses 
which began to fly by us faster and faster. The 
first time the car stopped he ran out on the plat- 
form and peered under the wheels to see what 
was pushing it along ; but when we passed one 
of the down trains he looked at the locomotive, 
and seemed at last to realize that this was the big 
black horse that was doing it all. In half an hour 
we arrived at Shin-a-ga-wa, a distance which it 
used to take more than half a day to journey 
over, and which brought us to the suburbs of 
Tokio. Here we took jinrikishas, with naked 
Japs, to draw us two miles more into the heart of 
the city. 

On arriving at the capital, I reported myself 
at the Mombusho Department, where I had an 
interview with the Minister of Education. He 
received me very kindly, and stated that Mr. 
Hatakeyama, the newly appointed Director of the 
Imperial College, would confer with me there re- 
specting my new duties in the institution. 

Now it so happened that Hatakeyama was my 
warmest Japanese friend, whom I had known for 
several years in America, but who had changed 



REMOVAL TO TOKIO. 1 39 

his name on returning to his country, so that I 
did not at first recognize him. In the United 
States his name was Soo-gi-woo-ra ; but this was 
an assumed title, and now he had resumed his 
family name. 

He was one of the first students who left Japan 
to study in foreign countries, shortly after the 
bombardment of his native city, Kag-o-shi-ma, 
by the English war-ships. After remaining a year 
in England, he came to the United States, and 
eventually settled down to his studies at New 
Brunswick, N. J., where I first met him at 
Rutgers College. He was quite a lad when he 
left his native land, and his mother was very 
anxious about him, for she had heard strange 
stories about the barbarians who were reported 
as living in England and America. With a 
mother's solicitude she urged him to take a few 
bags of good wholesome rice with him, for she 
had been told that people in America lived on 
snakes, frogs, and lizards ! 

He became a Christian at New Brunswick, and 
joined the Second Reformed Church. When 
called to an account for this act by the govern- 
ment, he replied that he had come abroad to 
study into the true source of western civilization, 
and he found Christianity to be that source, there- 
fore he had embraced it. The power of Christian 



HO LIFE IN JAPAN. 

countries did not consist in cannon-balls and gun- 
powder, as he had been led to believe when his 
native city was bombarded by the English ; but 
there was a better principle underlying civiliza- 
tion, which had peace and love and religious life 
as its basis. His reason indorsed Christianity, 
and his whole heart accepted it. 

Instead of the government calling him back to 
his own country and punishing him, as he had 
cause to fear — for Christianity was forbidden in 
Japan, and at one time was punishable with death 
— they placed more confidence in him than ever, 
and gave him the superintendence of the other 
students who were subsequently sent to pursue 
their studies in America. 

At New Brunswick he was very earnest in his 
desire that I should go and help the cause of civ- 
ilization in Japan, and before I started for that 
country he came up to see me in Albany. After 
spending a pleasant evening with some friends, 
we went to the depot near the Hudson River 
Bridge, and bade each other Saionara — good-by ; 
and as the train moved off, Hatakeyama said, 
** You go westward while I go eastward, and we 
will meet around the world in Japan !*' 

I started from the same depot across the con- 
tinent, and passed over the broad Pacific, while 
he sailed over the Atlantic ; but owing to his 



REMOVAL TO TOKIO. 14 1 

joining the Japanese Embassy, with which he 
travelled through all the countries and courts of 
Europe, he did not reach Japan until two years 
later, at the time I was called from Shidz-u-o-ka 
to Tokio. My surprise and pleasure may there- 
fore be imagined when the Minister of Educa- 
tion informed me that Hatakeyama was now the 
new director of the college, and that he would 
consult with me concerning the duties and details 
which heretofore were contested with yaconims 
and petty officials. 

Accordingly I went gladly to the reception- 
room of the Kai-sei Gak-ko, or college building, 
and awaited the coming of him who was at once 
my old friend and my new yaconim ! The 
officials sat around in dignified silence, when the 
door opened and the new Director stepped in. 
He was greeted by my attendants and others 
with profound bows ; and as I approached unob- 
served behind, and spoke his familiar name, he 
turned about with the same joyous bound as of 
yore, grasping my hands with the grip of bygone 
days, and burst forth with such a gleeful warmth 
of welcome as made the solemn officials look at 
one another with mingled awe and wonder, that 
such a boisterous breach of etiquette should come 
from one who usually was so dignified and calm. 
We cared little what they thought, however, and 



142 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

enjoyed ourselves for some time as hilariously as 
we pleased. 

Hatakeyama said he had *' piles of things '' to 
tell me about his strange experiences in the vari- 
ous courts of Europe, and he afterwards gave me 
the most vivid descriptions of all that he had seen 
and heard. His official connection with the em- 
bassy afforded him rare opportunities of meeting 
many of the greatest men and princes in Europe. 
He did not forget to bring me some pictures he 
had promised from my old home in Geneva, Swit- 
zerland ; and I also gave him some large photo- 
graphs of Niagara, which he requested me to 
bring from the falls for his mother. 

The new Director assigned me my duties and 
residence at the college, and I was soon settled 
amid the novel experiences of life at the capital. 
I took new courage, and began my labors afresh. 

Shortly after, the Saga rebellion broke out in 
the southern provinces of Japan, and Hatakeyama 
was sent down there in company with the former 
prince of his province to try and conciliate the 
insurgents. The attempt was unsuccessful, and 
a short but bloody strife ensued, in which many 
noble lives were lost ; among others, my former 
student and friend Katski, who studied with me 
in Albany, was beheaded with eleven of the lead- 
ers of the rebellion. Katski was a fine young 



REMOVAL TO TOKIO. 143 

fellow, and his cruel death was a great shock to 
me ; I had endeavored to persuade him not to 
go back to his province, when the rebellion first 
broke out, but he would not heed the advice. 

When Hatakeyama started for Saga I expressed 
some apprehensions respecting his safety. He 
only smiled, and said quietly, '* My trust is in 
the Lord, and my true faith will sustain me.'' 

I had a long interview with him at his house 
before he left for the south, concerning the re- 
establishment of my Bible-classes in Tokio, es- 
pecially at the Imperial College. He expressed 
surprise that no Bible-classes had been establish- 
ed there before, but said that as the law against 
Christianity had not been revoked, he was not 
ofificially able to give the permission desired. 
Personally, however, he said that he wished the 
plan God-speed, and as Director he would appear 
blind to any attempt that I might see fit to make. 
He wished most heartily, he said, that the young 
men of Japan might study the Gospel and abide 
by it. 

Accordingly I started three Bible-classes in 
Tokio. Two were held in my house near the 
college, and one at the house of my friend Naka- 
mura, where my old friends and students from 
Shidz - u - o - ka were gathered together. The 
students of the college were only permitted to 



144 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

leave the grounds on Sunday, which had hitherto 
been simply their holiday ; although I needed 
the Sabbath for rest, after the week's hard work, 
I appointed the Bible-class for students from the 
scientific department at eight o*clock in the 
morning, and the class for students from the 
legal department at seven in the evening. 

The other Bible-class was held at Nakamura's, 
two miles from the college, at three o'clock in 
the afternoon. Here I was warmly welcomed 
by my Shidz-u-o-ka friends who had removed 
to Tokio, and I continued the class for many 
months, finally giving it over to a missionary 
from Canada, for whom Nakamura built a house. 

Nakamura had a piece of ground at the top of 
a hill called ** Christian Slope,'* where he said he 
wished to have a church built before very long. 
It will be remembered that he once petitioned 
the government to build a Christian church, so 
as to give the new religion a fair trial ! This 
** Christian Slope," near his house, was so called 
from a Jesuit missionary who was confined there 
in prison more than two centuries ago, for at- 
tempting to teach Christianity. The government 
would not permit the people to go near him, but 
still he succeeded in converting his jailer. 

Soon after arriving in Tokio I attended a New 
Year's reception held at the educational depart- 



REMOVAL TO TOKIO, 145 

ment, at which all the foreign professors of the 
Imperial College were present. The body of in- 
structors assembled were the most cultured and 
gentlemanly company I had met in Japan, and it 
was a pleasure to see the progressive interests 
of the country intrusted to such competent 
hands. 

The new building of the Kaisei Gakko, or Im- 
perial College, was opened with imposing cere- 
monies by the Mikado shortly before I came to 
Tokio. It was decorated with flags of every 
nationality, and presented a beautiful appearance. 
The building covers several acres, and has three 
long wings extending 192 feet to the rear. Be- 
hind these are the gymnasium, dining-hall, and 
storehouses. The first floor of the main build- 
ing contains the library, laboratories, and lecture- 
rooms. The English department occupied the 
central wing, and the French and German de- 
partments the right and left wings. The second 
story throughout the building was used as a dor- 
mitory, for most of the students lived here. 

In front of the main entrance was a grassy 
mound and high gateway ; the latter is shown 
wide open in the picture. In passing this gate 
every student was obliged to leave a wooden 
ticket m.arked with his name. This was returned 
to him when he came back to the college. The 

19 



T46 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

rules and. regulations governing the students 
were very strict. 

In the picture of the gateway the name 
** Kaisei Gakko*' is seen on the right pillar, in 
Chinese characters ; my friend Dr. Veeder, the 
professor of physics, is standing in the centre of 
the picture with a few of his students around 
him ; some of them are in regulation dress, and 
others in native costume. 

The other viev/ which is given of the Kaisei 
Gakko presents the front of the building as it 
appeared the day that the Mikado visited and 
opened the institution. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

RAMBLES ABOUT THE CAPITAL. 

Life in Tokio was more varied than that at 
Shidz-u-o-ka. Something was always going on, 
and pleasant society was not wanting, whenever 
one felt the need of it. Evening parties and en- 
tertainments were frequent among the foreign 
residents, and the elegance and style seen on 
such occasions reminded one more of fashionable 
life at home than of residence in a pagan city. 

The capital itself is not beautiful. There are 
no elegant boulevards or splendid buildings, such 
as those seen in European countries. Tokio is 
simply a vast wilderness of houses, containing 
nearly a million souls, but lacking all the evi- 
dences of comfort and luxury to be found in the 
capitals of western lands. The houses are built 
of wood, and a general view of the city presents 
an endless succession of tiled and shingled roofs, 
with here and there a fire-proof storehouse, hav- 
ing walls of white cement. 

Yet there are places of great interest to visit, 



148 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

notwithstanding the sameness and shabbiness of 
the city. Let us stand for a mon:ent on the high- 
est wall of the Tokio castle, built by the same great 
chieftain who constructed the castle at Shidz-u- 
o-ka. Close beside us is a large cannon, which is 
fired every day precisely at noon. All about us 
are the deep moats, massive walls, and colossal 
gateways of the castle, encircling a space of 
nearly a mile in extent, and forming a wilderness 
of walls, embankments, public buildings, and 
shady promenades, right in the heart of the city. 
At each angle of the castle wall there used to be 
a square tower, built of stone and covered with 
white cement ; the tower had narrow windows, 
from which arrows could be discharged, and the 
roof was made of heavy stone tiles, stamped with 
the crest of the Tycoon. Only a few of these 
towers now remain, the rest having been removed 
by order of the Mikado's government. 

The picture represents a portion of the castle 
moat and wall, where the three-storied towers are 
still standing. The moat is filled with water. 

There are also numerous canals which intersect 
the city in every direction, so that merchandise 
can be transported from one point to another. 
Boats of every description are poled or sculled 
through the canals. 

I had a little canoe carrying but one person, 



liiiiiiiiiid' :,||ii"''»"'"»:''' 







RAMBLES ABOUT THE CAPITAL, H9 

and propelled swiftly by a single paddle. In this 
canoe I cruised around the canals and moats of the 
capital, studying many phases of life among the 
boatmen and fishermen, which could not other- 
wise be observed. Frequently I would venture 
out upon the bay, but the canoe (which I called 
*' The Rob Roy of Tokio,'* and which only drew 
two inches of water) would dance on the waves 
like a duck, while the salt spray washed over 
the thin deck, threatening to upset 'me. But it 
never did. 

Sometimes I drew in my spoon-like paddle and 
raised an umbrella to the wind. The canoe w^ould 
scud across the bay, greatly to the astonishment 
of the Japanese fishermen, who had never seen 
such a tiny craft before. 

A large river emptied into the Bay of Yedo 
on the eastern side of the city, which may be 
seen in the small map of Tokio and vicinity. 
Near the mouth of the river was the small '* con- 
cession,** where foreign merchants and mission- 
aries resided. Here were the foreign consulates, 
stores, schools, and chapels. Foreigners in the 
service of the Japanese Government alone were 
allowed to reside outside the limits of the ** con- 
cession** at the capital ; for Japan was not yet 
free to foreign trade, excepting five open ports. 

The most beautiful and interesting places in 



I50 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

Tokio, and those which I most frequently visited, 
were the large temples of Shiba,Uyeno, and Asa- 
kusa. The two former were the burial-places of 
the Tycoons for several centuries, and their sacred 
groves, richly ornamented shrines, and spacious 
halls for worship were the most beautiful works 
of art of ancient Japan. Both temples are situ- 
ated in the suburbs of Tokio, on opposite sides 
of the city, and their broad avenues and over- 
arching trees afford splendid promenades /or the 
people. The temple grounds serve the purpose 
of parks. At Uyeno, the large buildings were 
burned during a battle fought there in 1868, be- 
tween the forces of the Mikado and the retainers 
of the Tycoon. The gateway leading to the 
grounds is still riddled with musket balls, and the 
trees are scarred by bullets. Only the tombs and 
a few smaller temples remain. 

But at Shiba the temples are well preserved, 
and the carvings and gildings are very elegant. 
The eaves, pillars, and portals of the temples dis- 
play figures of every possible variety, from the 
hideous scales and claws of the frightful dragon 
to the soft white plumage of the sacred crane. 
Massive bronze lanterns, six feet high, are ranged 
in rows in the court -yard, and covered corridors 
lead up the hillside to the tombs of the Tycoons. 

There are six of these tombs, similar to the one 



RAMBLES ABO UT THE CAPITAL, 1 5 1 

built for the first Tycoon at the Temple of Kuno, 
near Shidz-u-o-ka. The picture gives an excel- 
lent idea of this tomb, with the Tycoon's crest 
upon it. 

The tomb consists of a hollow cylinder of stone, 
placed upon a granite pedestal, and surmounted 
by an immense capstone weighing several tons. 
The dead body of the Tycoon is deposited in the 
tomb in a square casket, or sometimes in a large 
earthen jar ; for the Japanese are buried in a sit- 
ting posture, and occupy but little space. The 
tomb is closed by a bronze door, upon which a 
large crest of the Tycoon is seen. This crest 
resembles three outspread clover leaves, turned 
inward upon each other. It is found stamped 
upon every thing throughout the temple grounds, 
even upon the stone tiles of the massive temple 
roofs. 

Although the first Tycoon was buried nearly 
three hundred years ago at the Temple of Kuno, 
which he built for himself on a high cliff overlook- 
ing the sea, near Shidz-u-o-ka, yet all of his suc- 
cessors were buried at Tokio. The most beauti- 
ful building at Kuno was a five-storied pagoda 
(like the one seen in Chapter III.), which towered 
above the tall cypress-trees. This pagoda was 
taken down by order of the government, because 
it was characteristic of Buddhism, and they 



152 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

wished to make Kuno a Shinto shrine, in accord- 
ance with the ancient Japanese religion. From 
the ruins of the beautiful pagoda I obtained a 
large golden crest of the Tycoon, which had long 
glistened in the sunlight across the Pacific. 

When the government attempted to change the 
largest temple at Shiba into a Shinto shrine also, 
the devout Buddhists were so enraged that they 
set fire to the beautiful temple, and burned it to 
the ground. It made a magnificent bonfire ; and 
the copper sheets on the roof, and the metal 
ornaments, gave a green and crimson tinge to the 
flames. 

The Japanese in Tokio are accustomed to large 
fires, however ; sometimes I have seen half a mile 
of the city in flames at once. The people cannot 
put out the fire, but they tear down the wooden 
buildings around it, and thus stay its terrible 
course. 

The most populous part of the city is on the 
eastern side of the castle area, near a bridge from 
which all distances in Japan are said to be reck- 
oned. A fearful conflagration swept through this 
district before I arrived in the city, and destroyed 
five thousand houses and hundreds of provincial 
Yashikis, The streets were afterwards widened 
and straightened, and the district rebuilt in 
foreign style — ^>., with sidewalks, gas-lamps, and 



RAMBLES ABOUT THE CAPITAL. 153 

two-story houses, half foreign and half Japanese. 
The main street was called the To-ri. This is 
the Broadway of Tokio ; it runs from the new 
railroad station to the old bridge of Nihon-Bashi. 
After crossing the bridge, houses of the Japanese 
style are seen again. 

The street life in Tokio may be studied by 
strolling up and down the Tori ; and I frequently 
rambled through this street, to indulge my curi- 
osity in observing the strange characteristics of 
the Japanese people. The native shops were 
ranged on both sides of the street, their fronts 
being thrown open so that the passer-by could 
see all the display of Avares at once. The shop- 
keeper squatted upon the straw-matted floor, in 
the midst of his goods, toasting his fingers over a 
brazier of live coals, and smoking his tiny pipe, 
which was refilled at every third puff. If you 
stopped to purchase any small article, he would 
bow politely, and figure up the price on a little 
frame with rows of beads running on parallel 
wires, like the abacus used in schools. Unless 
you were expert in mental arithmetic, he would 
calculate faster with his fingers than you could 
with your brains. His result was always right. 

Many of the streets crossing the Tori were 
devoted exclusively to the sale of special articles. 
** Bamboo Street '* looked as though a forest of 
20 



154 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

long bamboo poles had sprung up through its 
entire length ; and the '' Dyers' Street/' where 
deep vats and colored fabrics are exposed to the 
air, is filled with odors strong enough to knock a 
person over, even in passing. Some streets con- 
tain willow and basket ware ; others exhibit long 
shelves of lacquer-ware and cabinets, ornamented 
with every conceivable design. Another street 
contains folding screens, inscribed with pictures 
and poetry ; still others have paper lanterns, 
wooden-shoe shops, silk establishments, book- 
stores with European maps suspended in front ; 
and some streets are devoted to the sale of 
foreign goods, such as lamps, candles, kerosene, 
soap, toilet articles, and bottles of beer. The 
Japanese seem to think that beer and champagne 
are the characteristic marks of modern civiliza- 
tion. Unfortunately, too many sad examples 
have been set them in this direction by foreigners 
from Christian countries. 

The most interesting sights in the streets are 
the games and sports of the children. The Jap- 
anese believe in enjoying themselves, and the 
young folks are as bright and merry as the chil- 
dren of other climes. The girls play battledore 
and shuttlecock, and the boys fly kites and 
spin tops. The girls enjoy their game very 
much, and are usually dressed in their prettiest 



RAMBLES ABOUT THE CAPITAL. 155 

robes and bright-colored girdles ; their faces are 
powdered with a little rice flour, their lips are 
tinted crimson, and their hair is done up in a 
most extraordinary fashion. 

They play in the open street, sometimes form- 
ing a circle of half a dozen or more, and sending 
the flying shuttlecock from one to the other. 
They are very skilful, and rarely miss a stroke." 
The boys like a strong wind that their kites may 
soar high ; but the girls sing a song that it may 
be calm, so that their shuttlecocks may go right. 

The boys have wonderful kites, made of tough 
paper pasted on light bamboo frames, and deco- 
rated with dragons, warriors, and storm hobgob- 
lins. Across the top of the kite is stretched a 
thin ribbon of whalebone, which vibrates in the 
wind, making a peculiar humming sound. When 
I first walked the streets of Tokio I could not 
imagine what the strange noises meant that 
seemed to proceed from the sky above me ; the 
sound at times was shrill and sharp, and then low 
and musical. At last I discovered several kites 
in the air, and when the breeze freshened the 
sounds were greatly increased. 

Sometimes the boys put glue on their kite- 
strings, near the top, and dip the strings into 
pounded glass. Then they fight with their kites, 
which they place in proper positions, and attempt 



156 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

to saw each other's strings with the pounded 
glass. When a string is severed, a kite falls, and 
is claimed by the victor. The boys also have 
play-fights with their tops. 

Sometimes I met boys running a race on long 
stilts ; at other times they would have wrestling 
matches, in which little six-year-old youngsters 
would toss and tumble one another to the ground. 
Their bodies were stout and chubby, and their 
rosy cheeks showed signs of health and happiness. 
They were always good-natured, and never al- 
lowed themselves to get angry. 

On the fifth day of the fifth month the boys 
have their Fourth of July, which they call the 
** Feast of Flags.'' They celebrate the day very 
peaceably, with games and toys. They have sets 
of figures, representing soldiers, heroes, and cele- 
brated warriors ; with flags, daimio processions, 
and tournaments. Outside of the house a bam- 
boo pole is erected by the gate, from the top of 
which a large paper fish is suspended. This fish 
is son etimes six feet long, and is hollow. When 
there 13 a breeze it fills with wind, and its tail 
and fins flap in the air as though it were trying 
to swim away. The fish is intended to show that 
there are boys in the family. It is the carp, 
which is found in Japanese waters, and swims 
against the stream, and leaps over water-falls. 



RAMBLES ABOUT THE CAPITAL. 157 

The boys must therefore learn from the fish to 
persevere against all difficulties, and surmount 
every obstacle in life. When hundreds of these 
huge fishes are seen swimming in the breeze, it 
presents a very curious appearance. 

The girls have their ** Feast of Dolls'' on the 
third day of the third month. During the week 
preceding this holiday, the shops of Tokio are 
filled with dolls and richly dressed figures. This 
*' Feast of Dolls'* is a great gala-day for the girls. 
They bring out all their dolls and gorgeously 
dressed images, which are quite numerous in re- 
spectable families, having been kept from one 
generation to another ; the images range from a 
few inches to a foot in height, and represent court 
nobles and ladies, with the Mikado and his house- 
hold in full costume. They are all arranged on 
shelves, together with many other beautiful toys, 
and the girls present offerings of rice, fruit, and 
*' saki " wine, and mimic all the routine of court 
life. The shops display large numbers of these 
images at this special season ; after the holidays 
they suddenly disappear. 

I once bought a large doll baby at one of the 
shops, to send home to my little sister ; the doll 
was dressed in the ordinary way, having its head 
shaved in the style of most Japanese babies. 
It was so life-like that when propped up on a 



158 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

chair a person would easily suppose it to be a live 
baby. 

In going along the Tori I would often see a 
group of children gathered around a street story- 
teller, listening with widening eyes and breathless 
attention to the ghost story or startling romance 
which he was narrating. Many old folks also 
gathered around, and the story-teller shouted and 
stamped on his elevated platform, attracting great 
attention, until, just as the most thrilling part of 
the story was reached, he suddenly stopped and 
took up a collection ! He refused to go on un- 
less the number of pennies received was sufficient 
to encourage the continuation of the story. 

Street theatricals can also be seen, and travel- 
ling shows with monkeys, bears, and tumbling 
gymnasts, who greatly amuse the children. 
Sugar-candy and various kinds of sweetmeats are 
sold by pedlers, who are eagerly sought after by 
the little folks. Sometimes a man carries small 
kitchen utensils on the ends of a pole, and serves 
out tiny griddle-cakes to the children, who watch 
him cook the cakes, and smack their lips in antici- 
pation of the feast. 

A showman will put a piece of camphor on the 
tiny model of a duck which he floats on a shal- 
low dish of water, and as the children look on in 



RAMBLES ABOUT THE CAFITAE 159 

wonder the dissolving camphor gum sends the 
duck from side to side, as though it were aHve. 

The boys deHght in fishing, and will sit for 
hours holding the line by the moats and canals, 
waiting for a bite. I have seen a dozen people 
watching a single person fish, when there would 
not be a bite once in the half hour. 

There are few vehicles in Tokio, excepting the 
jinrikishas ; and most of the people walk in the 
middle of the street. When riding on horseback 
it is impossible to go at a rapid rate without en- 
dangering the youngsters who sprawl around in 
the street. Chickens, dogs, and cats are also in 
the way ; the latter animal has no tail in Japan. 

The greatest play-ground in Tokio appears to 
be the garden and cluster of buildings known as 
the Temple of Asakusa. The temple stands 
near the river, at the further end of the city. 
Here the people congregate in large numbers for 
pleasure and worship ; the Japanese combine re- 
ligion and amusement, and their temple grounds 
are the places of resort on all festival occasions. 
There is a perpetual holiday at Asakusa. The 
main temple is approached by a long avenue, lined 
on both sides with booths, stalls, and shops, in 
which toys and all manner of things are sold. 
The last table is devoted to the sale of small 



l6o LIFE IN JAPAN, 

beans, with which to feed the sacred doves that 
throng the eaves of the temple by hundreds. 
When I purchased a penny's worth of beans and 
threw them on the ground, the whole feathery 
tribe of doves descended in a fluttering cloud, 
and picked the beans up in an instant. At 
another table larger beans are purchased to feed 
the sacred white horse. The horse is very gen- 
tle, and stands with due dignity in his stall, re- 
ceiving with meekness all favors conferred upon 
him; he seems to *'know beans*' very well. 
The gods are said to ride upon this horse, there- 
fore it is a religious act to feed him ; he is plump 
and fat, like the lazy priest who attends him. 

Inside the temple, the altars and images are 
protected from the birds by wire screens. There 
is a small wooden image which has been rubbed 
by the people so that its face, hands, and feet 
have been literally worn off. Whosoever touches 
the image is said to have his diseases cured by 
touching the corresponding portion of his own 
body. It was very pitiable to see the blind, lame, 
and sickly coming up to this hideous wooden 
image, hoping to be cured thereby. 

To the left of the temple is a beautiful garden, 
with flowers, dwarfed trees, and miniature lakes. 
Here also is a grand display of wax figures, illus- 
trating Japanese legends and romance ; these 



RAMBLES ABOUT THE CAPITAL, l6l 

figures are similar to those once seen at Barnum's 
Museum, but are more finely executed. To see 
these figures you pass through corridors of some 
length, winding through a labyrinth of passages, 
and coming at each turn upon new sets of groups, 
representing every phase of Japanese life and cos- 
tume, poetical and tragical, from the farmer plod- 
ding the field to the goddess descending from the 
skies. At one point a fairy nymph is charming 
the lonely passer-by with music from a stringed 
instrument, as she sits in a shady bower ; at 
another place a freshly-severed head lies hideously 
on the floor, with eyes half closed and death pal- 
lor on the cheek, while a furious monster holds 
his sword aloft, as though ready to come at you 
as the next victim. 

In the neighborhood of Asakusa is a place 
called Mekojima, celebrated for its cherry-blos- 
soms. The cherry-trees line the roadside on the 
river bank for a distance of two miles. They 
overarch the road so as to form a continuous 
bower, and the blossoms are so thick and flaky 
that the trees appear as if covered with light 
snow. People throng the place by thousands, 
and take more pleasure in their admiration of 
these cherry-blossoms than in any other form of 
amusement. Tea-houses and gardens abound 
along the bank of the river, and mirth and music 

21 



1 62 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

are heard on all sides. Though the trees have 
such beautiful blossoms, yet they bear no fruit. 

My home in Tokio was near the second moat 
of the great castle, in the centre of the city ; the 
house stood within a compound, or inclosure, ad- 
joining the college buildings. Within this in- 
closure most of the foreign professors resided ; 
their houses were nearly all of the same style as 
the one shown in the picture. The view of my 
house was taken in winter during a snow-storm, 
to show that we had at least a little snow in 
Tokio. In the foreground are two jinrikishas, or 
little carriages such as I used in riding around To- 
kio. The two little girls in one of the jinrikishas 
were great pets of mine ; they were the daughters 
of a lady friend, who had charge of the Govern- 
ment Girls* School. Two servants are standing 
in the doorway, and considerable snow covers the 
roof. The smoke-pipe on the left of the entrance 
shows that the Japanese carpenter could not be 
prevailed upon to build a chimney. None of the 
houses in the compound had chimneys, and many 
fires have originated from the careless way in 
which these pipes were put up. 

The photographic camera seen on the table at 
the left was the one employed in taking some of 
the pictures of this book. Near the doorstep is 



RAMBLES ABOUT THE CAPITAL. 163 

another table, with a sword-rack and sword pre- 
sented by the Governor of Tokio. 

When I first came to Tokio I met with great 
pleasure my friend and former classmate, Mr. 
Grififis, who had once tramped with me through 
Switzerland, and who was now settled at the 
Tokio College, after living a year at Fukwi, on 
the western coast of Japan. In his journey to 
Tokio he passed through Shidz-u-o-ka^ when I 
went out to meet him with amounted escort, and 
entertained him at my old temple home. At 
Tokio we lived together in the same house for 
several months ; but after his return to America 
I was left alone, as I had been at Shidz-u-o-ka. 
Mr. Grififis wrote a large and interesting work on 
Japan while living in this house, which has since 
been published ; and if my young reader wishes 
a more complete history of Japan than I have 
space to give, I would refer him to Mr. Grififis's 
book, *'The Mikadoes Empire.'' 

A few months after Mr. Grififis left for America 
I invited Hatakeyama, the Director of the Kaisei 
Gakko, to come and live with me. He wished 
to do so very much, as his own house was small 
and two miles away, whereas mine was large and 
close to the college, and very convenient. I 
petitioned the Minister of Education to allow 



i64 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

Hatakeyama to change his residence, but for 
some unaccountable reason the request was 
politely declined. 

The scourge of small-pox visited Tokio while I 
was there ; two of the professors died with it, and 
great alarm prevailed. 

The natives died by hundreds ; but the Japa- 
nese seemed used to it. One of my friends at 
this time was suffocated from charcoal fumes in 
bathing in a Japanese bath-tub ; I helped em- 
balm the poor fellow, so that his body might be 
sent home. 

Quite a tragic affair occurred at the Kaisei 
Gakko one morning, which nearly resulted in the 
destruction of the whole building by fire. I was 
giving a lecture to my chemistry class, when sud- 
denly great confusion was heard in the second 
story, and the court-yard was seen filled with 
smoke. Dismissing the class, and advising them 
to keep cool, I seized the Babcock fire-extin- 
guisher which always stood on the table in my 
laboratory, and asked my two assistants to bring 
a pair of the same instruments which stood in the 
hall, and which I had newly charged the day 
before. 

With the three Babcocks we went upstairs, but 
so great was the confusion that we could not at 
first find the whereabouts of the fire. Beds, 



RAMBLES ABOUT THE CAPITAL, 1 65 

books, and furniture were being tumbled out of 
the windows, and students were rushing around 
like maniacs. At last I discovered the fire in the 
roof of the French department. It had caught 
from the red-hot smoke-pipe seen projecting from 
the corner of the wing of the college building in 
the picture a little further on. The fire had 
smouldered for hours, and then broken out with 
terrible fury, sweeping along the rafters under the 
roof, and would soon have wrapped the whole 
wing in flames. A Japanese hand-pump had been 
brought into the room at the corner of the build- 
ing ; the firemen had broken a hole through the 
ceiling, and were waiting for water to be brought 
upstairs in buckets ! I laughed at their clumsy- 
machine, and mounted the ladder leading into the 
burning loft above. The sight that met my gaze 
was appalling, and startled me so that I burned 
and blackened my arms in trying to get through 
the hole with the heavy Babcock on my back. 
Broad sheets of flame leaped along the rafters, 
and the smoke was so suffocating I could scarcely 
breathe. 

I attempted to head off the flames, knowing 
that if they gained much greater progress they 
would be beyond control, and the whole building 
would be sacrificed. Swinging from one rafter 
to another, I turned on the magic stream of the 



1 66 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

carbonic-acid' gas extinguisher, and the effect was 
instantaneous. Wherever the stream touched the 
fire it swept it out like a broom, and by the time 
I had emptied the first Babcock forty feet of the 
flames had been subdued. Meanwhile I was 
nearly extinguished myself by the thick smoke, 
and crept cautiously towards the hole, where I 
allowed the Jap pump to play on my face and 
head. 

Thus revived, I took the second extinguisher, 
and nearly subdued the rest of the flames. As 
the third and last instrument was passed up to 
me, I heard a great noise on the roof over my 
head, and soon shingles and stone tiles began to 
fall, showing that the firemen were breaking in 
the roof in true Japanese fashion. In vain I 
called to them to desist, and not to let in the air ; 
and I sent a stream of acidulated water into their 
faces to drive them away. Still they persisted in 
breaking in the roof, and at the same time men 
with stout poles began breaking up the thin floor 
beneath me. With the ingress of fresh air the 
fire started up again in several places. The 
treacherous cross - beams were some distance 
apart, and it was difficult to step from one to the 
other with the heavy instrument on my back. 
One young fellow, who ventured up to help me, 
fell through the ceiling like a shot, and disap- 



RAMBLES ABOUT THE CAPTIAL. 167 

peared from the scene. I crouched in the corner 
and played on the burning rafters as best I could ; 
reflecting on the pleasant alternative of being 
roasted alive, or struck on the head by a tile from 
above, or poked by a pole from below. A burn- 
ing stick fell on my back, and warmed the situa- 
tion somewhat. The extinguishers were true to 
their name, however, and after the third one had 
been emptied the flames were so far subdued that 
a few buckets of water finished them. 

As a touching sequel to the affair, I stayed in 
bed for two days afterward. This is the nearest 
I ever came to being cremated. 

The picture presents a portion of the Kaisei 
Gakko grounds. This view was taken in winter 
after a slight fall of snow ; but the snow melted 
so fast that I could not catch much of it with the 
camera. 

The small tower and building on the left be- 
long to the Suruga Yashiki, or official head- 
quarters of the province where I lived. In this 
yashiki I was received by Katz and Okubo, and 
other oflficials of Suruga, when I first came to 
Japan. 

Here a grand dinner was prepared for me in 
foreign style, and a reception given fit for a 
daimio. But, alas ! I had dined heartily with my 
friend Dr. Vecder just before going to the Yas- 



I6S LIFE IN JAPAN, 

hiki, not knowing of the culinary preparations 
made for me. Nevertheless the banquet must be 
served, and my post of honor had to be at the 
head of the table. Etiquette made it essential 
that I should begin eating before any body else 
could commence. In vain I excused myself in 
broken Japanese, saying that I had just risen from 
dinner. This was supposed to be polite affec- 
tation, showing that I had a delicate appetite. 
The more excuses I made the more I was pressed 
to eat. To decline was a lack of respect to my 
hosts, and a reflection upon the excellent cook- 
ing ; besides, whenever I stopped every body else 
laid down their knives and forks, though I knew 
they had been waiting a long time and were very 
hungry. To go forward I could not, and to stop 
entirely I did not dare ! Course after course 
came and went. The dinner was excellent, and 
served in splendid style, in dishes belonging to 
the Tycoon, which I afterwards used on similar 
occasions at Shidz-u-o-ka. Soup, fish, meats, and 
savory viands came in endless succession. I tasted 
each course and then stopped. Every body else 
did the same. I wished for an artificial stomach, 
such as Jack the Giant-Killer possessed when he 
ate more hasty-pudding than the giant, and made 
the monster perform hara-kiri. Finally the last 



RAMBLES ABOUT THE CAPITAL. 1 69 

dish aisappeared from the table. My companions 
still felt hungry, and I felt like exploding ! 

Beautiful presents were then produced. The 
Tycoon sent me a superb gold lacquer lunch-box, 
with solid silver saki bottles. It was the most 
elegant box of the kind I ever saw, and was 
worth five or six hundred dollars. I presented 
a large picture of the Yosemite Valley to Katz, 
and a diagram of the new capitol at Albany to 
Okubo. 

So ended the first banquet and reception at the 
Yashiki. 



22 



CHAPTER IX. 

A PEEP INTO THE MIKADO *S PALACE. 

For long ages the Mikado of Japan has had 
religious reverence paid him by his subjects as 
the ** Son of Heaven.'' He sat behind a screen 
at his ancient capital Kio-to, and no one might 
dare approach him except a few court nobles. 
His very existence was shrouded in sacred mys- 
tery, and neither his face nor his form could be 
seen, but only the voluminous folds of his impe- 
rial skirts. The military chieftain, the Tycoon, 
managed all the affairs of state during this time at 
Yedo. 

At last, after the revolution of 1868, the Mi- 
kado came forth from his seclusion and estab- 
lished his court at Yedo, which thereupon became 
Tokio, or Eastern Capital. The Tycoon retired 
with his retainers to Shidz-u-o-ka. 

Since my arrival at the capital I had been in- 
tensely curious to see the Mikado, of whom I had 
so long heard. I even planned to gain access to 
the emperor's palace, and see the v/hole of the 



THE MIKADO'S PALACE, I 71 

imperial court and household, and in this, before 
many months, I succeeded. The lever that I 
used to pry open the doors of stiff etiquette and 
princely exclusion was the stereopticon ! 
^ I first gave some brilliant exhibitions of pic- 
tures at the Naval College for Mr. Katz, the 
Minister of the Navy ; and afterwards at the 
Kaisei Gakko for Mr. Hatakeyama. These en- 
tertainments were attended by hundreds of ofifi- 
cials and students, who of course were wonder- 
fully pleased with the splendid stereopticon pic- 
tures of Europe and America. 

Soon the fame of the stereopticon reached the 
palace, just as I intended it should ! The em- 
press and ladies of the imperial court were ex- 
ceedingly desirous of seeing the beautiful pictures 
of western countries. But of course the ladies 
could not leave the palace ; so I sent word politely 
to the lord chamberlain, through Hatakeyama, 
saying that I would come to the 'palace and give 
the empress an entertainment, and that the Mi- 
kado might come to the exhibition if he saw fit. 

The offer was a novel one, as no foreigner had 
ever been admitted to the palace in such a way 
before ; but my proposition was gladly accepted. 
My gallant offer to the empress and her ladies 
was amended, however, by the lord chamberlain, 
who said that the exhibition should be given for 



172 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

the Mikado, and that the empress and ladies 
might come in if they wished. 

At an appointed day I went to the palace with 
Hatakeyama, and selected the largest of the 
state apartments, as the most suitable in which 
to give the exhibition. I then asked the lord 
chamberlain to fix the most convenient date. 
He stepped out in the garden and consulted the 
Mikado, who was just about to take a walk. His 
majesty said that Tuesday of the next week 
would suit him ; but if any important state du- 
ties interfered he would let me know. 

Accordingly, about eight o'clock on Tuesday 
evening I had my instruments set up in the pal- 
ace, and the large curtain suspended from the top 
of the partition of the apartment. Two large 
screens were arranged around the instruments ; 
where the officers at first fixed them so as to shut 
off the seats intended for the emperor and his 
household from all the rest of us in the room. But 
as soon as they had retired to give notice that all 
was ready, I made a slight and quick change, and 
pulled the screens backward, so as to make the 
way clear for a larger picture on the curtain. I 
placed the Mikado's elegant chair in the little 
alcove, formed at the end of the zigzag screen, 
just to the left of my stereopticon, where he 
would have the finest possible view in the room. 




THE " MIKADO" IN MODERN DRESS. 



THE MIKADO'S PALACE. 173 

In front of his chair was a small table, covered 
with a rich gold-embroidered silk cloth ; on his 
left was another table, and a seat for the em- 
press ; while in the rear were several lines of up- 
holstered chairs, for the maids of honor and other 
members of the household. 

A few days previous to the exhibition, I had 
requested Mr. Katz, of the Naval Department, to 
lend me one of the marine bands to give music 
for the occasion. On riding up to the gate of the 
palace that evenirig I met two bands instead of 
one marching up the hill ; they formed in line in 
two companies, inside the gate, numbering sixty 
men in all, and began tuning their instruments for 
the exhibition. 

After waiting some time for the foreign leader 
of the band (who was unfortunately detained by 
some misunderstanding respecting the passport of 
entrance to the imperial grounds), I placed the 
musicians in a side room near the large parlors, 
gave them directions to play the pieces appropri- 
ate to the foreign countries, the pictures of which 
would be shown in geographical order. 

As soon as every thing was ready for the exhibi- 
tion, notice was sent to the Mikado's apartments 
that all things were awaiting his majesty's pleas- 
ure. The emperor and empress were ushered 
into the room, followed by an impressive retinue, 



1 74 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

consisting chiefly of young ladies dressed in white, 
with their long, dark hair streaming behind, and 
broad red sashes encircling their waists ; the ef- 
fect was very pretty, and quite unique, as this 
charming procession of fair ones entered, and 
quietly seated themselves behind his majesty, 
while the band struck up the '' Mikado's Hymn,'* 
and the word *' Welcome,'' with the wreath of 
flowers, was thrown by the brilliant light upon 
the curtain. 

The chief officers of the Kunaisho, or House- 
hold Department, sat on the opposite side of the 
room from his majesty. Tokudaigi, the lord 
chamberlain, and several other high officers were 
in attendance on his majesty ; and every thing 
passed off in a very pleasant and social manner, 
there being nothing stiff or formal, though there 
was a subdued stillness in the room. 

At the outset dissolving views were exhibited 
of Windsor Castle, Sandringham Hall, the Parlia- 
ment Houses, and other English and Scottish 
places of interest, during which the band played 
** God save the Queen." 

Then followed many American views of Niag- 
ara, the Yosemite, and the principal scenes in 
Washington, New York, and Boston. After this 
the magnesium stereopticon was started, and the 
magnificent views of Paris, Berlin, Switzerland, 



THE MIKADO'S PALACE. i 75 

and Northern Italy were presented in brilliant 
succession. 

Hatak^yama (who had accompanied the embas- 
sy in all their European experiences) sat near his 
majesty, and explained all the views as they were 
announced ; designating, at the same time, the 
particular places visited by the embassy, and en- 
livening the occasion by little incidents of their ex- 
perience. 

The Mikado seemed exceedingly interested, 
and although every body else was quiet in his 
presence, he conversed freely and naturally, ask- 
ing many questions upon places of particular im- 
portance. 

After a hundred of the various well-known 
scenes in Europe and America had been shown, 
interspersed with curious revolving chromatropes^ 
and an ocean scene which was particulariy impres- 
sive, a few comic figures were introduced, which 
created considerable merriment among the fair 
ones of the white-robed retinue sitting to the 
left, though they were very subdued and dignified 
m their expressions of delight and amusement. 

The two bands of music played splendidly at 
first, but later in the evening, when the lights 
were down low, they lost their discipline a little 
m the absence of the band-master. Some of them 
had seen the pictures previously shown at the 



I 76 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

Naval College, and told their companions how 
wonderful they were. The musicians were so 
curious to see the pictures that they could not 
stay in the room assigned them, but stole slyly 
behind the stereopticon to see the show. When 
I discovered them they pretended they had merely 
come to ask what piece to play next! There 
were so many drums, trumpets, and fifes that half 
the band could make all the noise needed, while 
the other half came in to see the fun ; and they 
performed very finely. 

The exhibition lasted an hour and a half, yet 
the court wished it to continue longer. 

At the conclusion I thought that my turn had 
come to secure the long-desired peep at the Mi- 
kado and the fair members of the imperial house- 
hold. The room had hitherto been dark, so that 
I could not readily see the distinguished people 
about me. Only a broad cone of light fell upon 
the screen from the stereopticon. But when the 
signal was given for the Japanese servants to ap- 
proach with their little paper lanterns, I knew the 
Tokudaigi had planned to remove the Mikado 
and his court from the room, without giving the 
foreigner time to have a satisfactory look at them. 

Science came to my assistance, however. The 
punctilious lord chamberlain knew not the mar- 
vellous potency of the magnesium light. No 




EMPRESS IN COURT COSTUME. 



THE MIKADO'S PALACE. IJJ 

sooner had the fair retinue risen from their seats 
than I raised the magic clock-lamp from one of 
the instruments, and shot a broad beam of white 
light, dazzling as the sun, down the long corridor 
through which the procession n\ust pass. In an 
instant the Japanese lanterns glimmered like fire- 
flies, and the darkness of the corridor changed to 
daylight. The Mikado and empress passed out 
first, followed by the ladies of the court, who 
walked quietly, two by two, and hand in hand. 
Their dresses were similar to some of those I had 
seen in pictures of the ancient Kioto court. The 
fair young faces turned one by one towards the 
brilliant light, which their curiosity led them to 
look at, and I noticed the little dots placed upon 
their foreheads, which designated the highest rank 
of nobility. Some of the ladies were very pretty ; 
they wore their hair in thick tresses down the 
back, which style is only allowable for ladies of 
the court. Their eyes were slightly oblique. 

The Mikado is a little taller than the average 
Japanese, with an open, fair countenance, having 
no decided expression except that of serenity. 
His profile is not very pleasing, but his forehead 
is high, and his eyes are manly and expressive. His 
dark hair curls a little at the temples. He steps 
with ease and carries his figure erect. On 
the whole, the Mikado is a sensible man and a 

23 



178 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

good emperor, but as ** a god '* he is fast becom- 
ing a failure. His subjects cannot continue to 
worship one whom they see to be a man like 
unto themselves. In the picture (which does 
not do him justice) he is dressed in foreign cos- 
tume, with gold-lace coat, broad epaulets, white 
pantaloons, military cap, and European sword. 
This dress designates him as commander-in-chief 
of the army, as well as emperor. 

The Mikado issued an order that all the na- 
tive officials and military men should henceforth 
present themselves at reviews and receptions 
uniformed in foreign style. Some of the Japa- 
nese ladies thought they would adopt European 
dresses also ; but the emperor issued another 
order, saying that Japanese ladies looked well 
enough as they were, and did not need to change 
their native costume. Wherein the emperor was 
right. The ladies still wear the ancient style of 
dress, as seen in the picture of the empress. 
Elegant fans are carried on full-dress occasions 
by both sexes. 

After the stereopticon entertainment the offi- 
cers of the Kunaisho Department expressed much 
pleasure at the result, and said I must be 
fatigued and in need of refreshment. Accord- 
ingly I was led, with Hatakeyama and my two 
Japanese assistants, into the room where the 



THE MIKADO'S PALACE, 1 79 

Mikado's ministers are usually received. Here 
a table of refreshments awaited us. Cakes and 
confectionery, stamped with stars, leaves, flow- 
ers, and chrysanthemums, were piled upon the 
table, colored with all the tints of the rain- 
bow. The confectionery was too artistic to eat, 
and I told the lord chamberlain that I would 
take it home to show my friends ; he said cer- 
tainly, that I might take it all, for this is the Jap- 
anese custom. I had frequently given dinners at 
which the invited guests carried away in their 
sleeves all the good things that were left ! So 
there was no impropriety in my carrying away 
the sweetmeats from the Mikado's table. 

The Tokudaigi said he had ordered one of the 
emperor's carriages to convey me back to the 
college, and that it would soon be in waiting. 
The carriage drove up to the gate of the palace 
in grand style, with two horses, two bettos well 
tattooed, and a coachman in full livery. It was 
evidently the barouche of the empress, and was 
luxurious within ; my Japanese assistants enjoyed 
the ride exceedingly, for they had never seen 
such a carriage before. 

We drove out of the Imperial Guard Gate, 
across a narrow causeway over a very deep moat, 
where Iwakura, the Mikado's minister, had been 
attacked by a dozen of the two-sworded Samourai, 



l8o LIFE IN JAPAN. 

and nearly assassinated. He was badly cut, but 
saved himself by rolling down the steep embank- 
ment into the moat. The imperial guards were 
alarmed, and the would-be assassins were after- 
wards captured and beheaded. I subsequently 
dined at Iwakura*s house, and found him able to 
walk with the aid of a crutch. 

When our carriage arrived at the college com- 
pound it was nearly midnight, and the sleepy 
gatekeeper was inclined to grumble at being dis- 
turbed so late. But when his half-opened eyes 
caught sight of the Mikadoes crest on the car- 
riage, he fell on his face, and then flew to the 
bars and opened the gate quicker than he had 
ever done before ! 

The next morning all my instruments were sent 
to the college in the emperor's express wagon. 
A month after, a magnificent gold lacquer-box 
came to me with the compliments of the Mikado 
and the thanks of the ladies of the court. The 
latter said they felt as though the stereopticon 
had taken them on a journey through foreign 
countries, and that nothing in their seclusion at 
the palace had ever afforded them half so much 
pleasure. They would remember the occasion, 
they said, all their lives. 

The present sent from the Mikado was quite as 
elegant as the one formerly received from the ex- 



THE MIKADO'S PALACE, l8l 

Tycoon, and was doubly valuable from its associ- 
ations. The first gift — from the ex-Tycoon — rep- 
resented the declining feudal power of the past ; 
and the second — from the Mikado — represented 
a new era in the progress and enlightenment of 
Japan. 

It is appropriate just here to say a few words 
respecting the various classes of society which 
prevailed in Japan before the advent of foreign- 
ers, and of the distinctions which are now slowly 
passing away. 

In ancient times society was divided into four 
classes. The first constituted the literary and 
military class, called the Samourai. The second, 
strange as it may seem, was the agricultural class, 
or common* farmer. The third was the laboring 
class, or carpenter and artisan. The fourth was 
the trading or money-making class, the merchant. 
These were the chief classes that existed from 
1604 until 1868. 

The Samourai stood at the head of the social 
scale. He was the gentleman — the soldier in war 
and the scholar in peace. He could wield either 
the sword or the pen. Of the two, he rather pre- 
ferred the sword. The sharp steel blades thrust 
in his belt were to him the symbol of rank 
and chivalry. He might walk the streets with- 



1 82 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

out a hat, but never without wearing his two 
swords. 

In the picture representing the classes of society 
in Japan, the Samourai is seen standing on the 
left, with his long and short swords thrust in his 
belt. 

In the middle of the picture, sitting upon the 
ground, is the carpenter, who carries a square 
rule. 

The man with a book is a street story-teller ; 
and the girl on the right, with a sickle, is a farm- 
er's daughter, who cuts grass, and carries it in the 
basket on her back. 

The girl sitting on the left, with a musical in- 
strument, is playing on the Samisen, or three- 
stringed banjo, which is more popular than any 
other kind of music. The strings are struck with 
a piece of ivory. 

The man with a brick-shaped hat on the right of 
the group is a Ku-Ge, or court noble. Sanjo, the 
Prime Minister of Japan, wore such a hat when 
I first met him in Tokio. 

The central and highest figure is dressed in the 
style which once prevailed at the court of the 
Tycoon. But these ridiculous fashions are now 
nearly abolished. 

The two ladies on either side of the highest 
figure are members of the Mikado's court ; their 



THE MIKADO'S PALACE. 183 

hair is brushed back in the way I have already 
described in this chapter. Two dots upon their 
foreheads denote their high rank. All the other 
ladies have their hair dressed in the style of the 
middle classes of society. 

The men have their heads shaved at the top, in 
the old-fashioned way. The Samourai have the 
family crests upon their clothing. 

Class distinctions are slowly breaking down in 
Japan with the incoming of western civilization. 
The Samourai no longer monopolizes the military 
power, for the government have called the com- 
mon people to be soldiers, and the proud 
Samourai have been forced to labor honestly with 
their own hands. 

It was my good fortune to witness a mock bat- 
tle m the presence of the Mikado, showing the 
skill and discipline of the sturdy soldiers who 
now compose the new army. The battle took 
place m the suburbs of Tokio, between fourteen 
thousand Japanese troops. It commemorated a 
peaceful victory in diplomacy, which Japan had 
recently gained over China, in the adjustment of 
the Formosa question, which had long threatened 

■war 



war. 



On the day appointed for the battle the troops 
were drawn up in double columns at an early 
hour, and the two divisions were placed a mile 



1 84 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

or more apart. When the Mikado arrived upon 
the field, skirmishers were being thrown out b^ 
both parties ; these gradually fell back as the 
two armies approached each other. The soldiers 
were all dressed in foreign uniforms, and armed 
with foreign Chassepot rifles. 

The fighting soon became general. Double 
and triple lines of troops were ranged across the 
plain, and were completely enveloped in the 
clouds of smoke which rose from their ranks. 
After two hours and a half of heavy firing and 
cannonading, the climax of the battle was reached 
by the troops of both sides becoming closely 
massed in face of each other, in front of a wooded 
hill-slope, beyond which the retreat could not be 
carried. Nothing could be more warlike than 
the scene now presented. For a distance of two 
miles, the cultivated land was trodden down by 
thousands of feet, giving an appearance of sad 
desolation. Far away, a column of smoke was 
rising like a cloudy pillar, and the roar of cannon 
greeted the ear, like the sound of distant thun- 
der. White wreaths of smoke overhung the 
woods, and the sharp rattle of musketry was deaf- 
ening. 

The last charge was like the grand tableau of a 
drama ; and being in the midst of the smoke. 



THE MIKADO'S PALACE, 185 

and close upon the heels of the advancing line, I 
was favored with the beauty and excitement of a 
battle without the danger and sickening sights 
thereof. 

Covered by the heavy fire of a friendly battery 
on a neighboring hill, regiment after regiment 
responded to the bugle-note, and lowered their 
weapons to the charge. On they went, sweep- 
ing across the plain, their long lines circling up 
from the right, and throwing volley after volley 
of bulletless smoke into the stubborn ranks of 
the enemy. The latter were massed at the foot 
of the hill, and unseen regiments were in the 
woods above ; these opened fire by companies, 
and light lines of smoke drifted from the woods 
and scattered among the trees, like snow whiffs 
on a windy day. The wooded slope threw back 
ten thousand echoes, as the two combating 
forces closed upon each other. There was a rat- 
tle and roar loud and prolonged, and never did I 
imagine that mere rifles could produce such a 
continuous roll of sound. The shouts of the men 
and the blasts of the bugles mingled with the din 
and confusion, and clouds of smoke enveloped 
all parties. So thick was the smoke at times, 
that naught could be seen save the glitter of 
steel, and the bright intermittent flashes of the 
guns. 

24 



1 86 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

At last the enemy succumbed. The clouds 
slowly lifted, and the cracking and roaring 
ceased. The line of battle on both sides broke 
up into various detachments, and wearily the 
troops trudged homeward. 



CHAPTER X. 

A TRIP TO KIOTO. 

Kioto is the '* sacred city'' of Japan. Until 
a few years ago it was considered the spiritual 
capital, where his Mysteriousness the Mikado re- 
sided, whose august person was solemnly veiled 
from even the gaze of his own subjects. The 
idea of a foreigner from the outside world ever 
gaining admittance to the sacred city would have 
horrified the good Japanese of the olden time ; 
nevertheless, wonderful things are happening in 
our day, and changes have come to pass which 
would have paralyzed the ancient court ; so that 
I really went to Kioto and sojourned among its 
most sacred temples as comfortably as though I 
were rusticating on the beautiful banks of the 
Hudson. 

The trip was a long one, requiring several 
weeks. I went to the port of Ko-be by sea— a 
distance of 430 miles, and returned to Tokio by 
the whole length of the Tokaido, on the overland 



1 88 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

route. The most interesting and historical por- 
tions of Japan were visited on the way, though I 
cannot do more than mention them here. 

After some delay in receiving my passport from 
the Gaimusho, or Foreign Office, I left Yokohama 
on July 23d, in company with an American friend 
and a young Japanese who had recently returned 
from the United States. We sailed in the Pacific 
Mail steamer Oregonian, which we nicknamed 
the ** RoU-igonian'' before we had been out many 
hours. The voyage only occupied a day and a 
half, but it was the roughest piece of sailing we 
ever wish to experience. The rolling and pitch- 
ing qualities of the steamer were of the most un- 
pleasant character, and as we were running through 
a very heavy sea, and there was no wind to steady 
the ship, our condition was really deplorable. I 
spent most of the time sprawling on the cabin 
floor ; for no sooner would I crawl into my berth 
than I was unceremoniously pitched out of it 
again. My companions tried to sit on chairs ; 
but in an instant the chair-legs would go from 
under them, spilling them on deck and rolling 
them helplessly against the gunwale of the 
steamer. 

The captain told me as we were coming into 
port that there must have been a typhoon to the 
south-east of us, which died away, leaving the sea 



A TRIP TO KIOTO, 1 89 

in the dangerous condition In which we found it, 
with high waves and no wind. 

The British steamer Bengal arrived at Kobe 
the day before us, and reported that she had 
never met such heavy seas, which were weathered 
with the greatest difficulty. A former Japanese 
friend named Nagai, who used to study at New 
Brunswick, and was now going to Ozaka on busi- 
ness for the Treasury Department, told me that 
he had crossed the Atlantic seven times, but had 
never suffered from sea-sickness so much as on 
this short trip. 

But even bad things have an end, and towards 
evening we came in sight of land, and steamed 
around a broad cape into the calm and sheltered 
waters of Ozaka Bay. All night we sailed quietly 
along the shore, watching the lights of the fisher- 
men's boats glimmering across the bay. 

The sun was just rising as we rode at our iron 
buoy in front of Kobe, and fired the signal gun, 
which echoed and re-echoed through the neighbor- 
ing hills, telling the inhabitants that their mail 
had arrived. 

We were anxious to reach the shore as speedily 
as possible after our misery on the *' Roll- 
igonian \' terra firma never felt so good as when 
we placed our feet once more on land. It was 
early yet, and few people were stirring. So we 



IQO LIFE IN JAPAN. 

started off and visited a renowned water-fall in a 
cleft of the hills behind the town. After a steep 
climb we reached the fall, which tumbled from a 
height of sixty feet, making the rocky gorge rever- 
berate with the noise and shock of its descent. 

Kobe is very picturesquely situated between 
the mountains and the sea, and some of the 
foreign houses are very handsome. The town is 
merely the port and commercial outlet of Ozaka, 
and is connected with the latter city by a new 

railroad. 

We took the 11.30 train for Ozaka, reaching 
the spacious depot on the suburbs of the city in 
just one hour. The cars are more elegant and 
comfortable than those on the Yokohama Rail- 
road, and the locomotives are larger ; both roads 
were built by English engineers, and the cars are 
small, in the English style. The Japanese con- 
ductors evince pardonable pride in the novel dig- 
nity placed upon them in collecting tickets and 
conveying passengers. They are very polite and 
competent however. 

Ozaka is the second city in size in the Japanese 
Empire. It contains a population of over 500,- 
000, and is more compactly built than Tokio. 
The streets ' are narrow and very crowded, but 
comparatively clean. So many large canals in- 
tersect the city that it might be called the Venice 



A TRIP TO KIOTO. I91 

of Japan. Our hotel was conveniently located on 
one of these canals, and we made excursions from 
this point in every direction, exploring the sights 
of the great city. The shops were the finest I had 
seen, and were stocked with a great variety of 
goods ; for Ozaka is the commercial centre of the 
country. 

The three points of interest which we first vis- 
ited were the imperial mint, the great castle, and 
the pagoda ; from the latter a fine general view of 
the city may be obtained. The imperial mint was 
more extensive than the United States mint at 
Philadelphia, and quite as well conducted in every 
respect. We were politely shown throughout the 
whole establishment, and witnessed the money, 
making process on a scale we had never seen be- 
fore. The mint is a granite building, and stands 
on the margin of the river ; close beside it is a 
sulphuric acid manufactory, with a solitary brick 
chimney 150 feet in height. 

We first passed through the rooms for melting 
gold and silver ; here were small furnaces, contain- 
ing red-hot crucibles. The melted metal is poured 
into moulds, and cools in the form of long .bars 
several inches thick. These bars are rolled in 
another room between heavy cylinders moved by 
machinery. It appeared strange to see the work- 
men forcing these bars between the rollers, as if 



192 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

they were only sticks of wood. They come out 
flat and bow-shaped, and are dark and discolored ; 
the friction of the heavy rolling also makes them 
quite hot. Without thinking of this, and not 
noticing that the workmen had their hands pro- 
tected by thick gloves, I attempted to pick up one 
of the bars from a freshly rolled cartful as we 
passed by, I dropped it quicker than I picked it 
up, somewhat to the amusement of those standing 
near, and concluded that money was sometimes a 
hot thing to handle ! 

The machines in the various rooms were very 
complicated and delicate : some were for punching 
the gold, silver, and copper coins, from the flat 
strips of these metals. Others were for rounding 
them off nicely, and turning up the edges ; and 
finally the coins were placed in piles, and run 
through grooves to the stamping machines, which 
closed upon each one of them with a *' bite,'' im- 
pressing the ** dragon'* and the value upon one 
side, and the ** rising sun'* and imperial crest 
upon the other. 

We watched for some time the continuous 
streams of gold and silver pieces which rattled 
from the mouths of the various machines : at 
one point it would be a silver shower of dol- 
lars or fifty sen pieces : at another it would be 
a golden rain of five, ten, or twenty yen coins, 



A TRIP TO KIOTO, 1 93 

bright and shining as the sun stamped upon 
them. 

The new pennies, which had recently been put 
in circulation to replace the old tempo cash, 
were being produced at a rate that would have 
made the little boys* eyes dance ; they flew out 
of the hopper like chaff from a winnowing 
machine, and looked so bright that one would 
think them something more than copper. 

The most beautiful instruments were those in 
the weighing-room, and the finest machine here 
was constructed by the Japanese. Each gold 
coin must be weighed to see that it is of the 
exact weight required by the standard. In the 
weighing-room there are six tables of apparatus, 
brass levers, armatures, and scale-pans, all en- 
closed in glass cases, and all moved by delicate 
band adjustments, connecting them with the 
same power that moves the ponderous machines 
in the other rooms. The gold coins are pushed 
forward one by one, by feeders, to the deli- 
cate scale-pan, which acts automatically and al- 
most with intelligence. If the coin is too heavy, 
it drops to one side ; if it is a little too light, it 
turns off to another box ; but if it is just right, 
it goes straight ahead to a kind of contribution- 
box, which is usually better supplied than those 
for missionary purposes. 

25 



194 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

After visiting the mint, I was very much inter- 
ested in inspecting the acid works. My compan- 
ions could see nothing very poetical in leaden 
chambers and suffocating sulphur furnaces, even 
though they admired the big chimney, which is 
said to be the highest in Asia ; and, in this chim- 
neyless country it is at least a consolation to 
know that the Japs have oTie chimney that even 
beats the average ! I told them the consump- 
tion of sulphuric acid was the true standard of a 
nation's commercial prosperity, for it is used in all 
the processes of manufacture ; and the acid works, 
with all their sulphurous fumes and furnaces, 
were a more reliable index of Japan's commercial 
condition than the glittering showers of gold 
through which we had just passed in the mint. 

We did not forget to visit the great castle, 
which also stood near the river, and is remarka- 
ble for its high walls and deep moats, that once 
rendered it well-nigh impregnable. But the tow- 
ers and buildings were totally destroyed by fire 
during the fighting which took place here some 
years ago between the forces of the Mikado and 
the Tycoon. The walls and foundations are still 
standing, and here may be seen the largest blocks 
of stone ever quarried in Japan. They are quite 
as wonderful as those I afterwards saw at the 
Pyramids ; but how the Japanese, with almost a 



A TRIP TO KIOTO, 195 

total lack of mechanical appliances, could ever 
have transported these blocks and placed them 
in their present position, I cannot tell. 

While waiting at the guard gate for permission 
to enter, I measured one or two of the stones in 
the side of the wall. The first one contained 
over 500 cubic feet, and the others varied from 
twenty-five to thirty feet in length, with a 
breadth of fifteen or eighteen feet. There are 
no quarries near Ozaka from which these massive 
blocks could have been taken, and it is supposed 
they were floated up the inland sea, on great 
rafts, from the province of Hizen. Near the top 
of the castle we found stone blocks still larger, 
and a well 120 feet deep, from which we drew 
the purest and coolest water, with an interminably 
long rope. The view from this point is very fine ; 
and near the castle was a cannon foundry, and 
the government barracks, where 10,000 infantry 
and 3,000 artillery were quartered. 

On our return to the hotel we visited the new 
State House, built in foreign style, with Corin- 
thian columns, spacious halls, and the whole 
surmounted with a dome ! This imposing build- 
ing was in strange contrast to the squalor and 
architectural poverty which surrounded it. The 
interior is also a ludicrous mingling of the old 
and the new. In passing along the corridors 



196 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

I peeped into the compartments set aside for 
the various branches of government. Here were 
dozens of yaconims seated around tables, with 
piles of paper and bulky documents in front 
of them, while they smoked their tiny pipes and 
jabbered as lively as ever ; they looked intensely 
Japanese, and yet all this was in a modern re- 
publican-looking State-house ! 

The last evening in Ozaka we took tea with 
Rev. Mr. Gulick and his family. Here we met 
Mr. Gulick 's aged father, who had spent many 
years as a missionary in the Sandwich Islands, 
and had now come to spend his declining years 
with his devoted missionary son in Japan. The 
old gentleman welcomed me with special warmth, 
saying that he had read a great many of my let- 
ters from Shidz-u-o-ka, which were published in 
the New York Evangelist. 

We attended the quiet Sabbath service which 
Mr. Gulick and one or two other missionaries 
held, in a private house, our last Sunday in Oza- 
ka, and were very much touched by the interest 
manifested by the few natives who came together 
to study Christian truth. 

There is a river flowing irom the vicinity of 
Kioto and Lake Biwa which empties into the bay 
at Ozaka. It is customary to go up the river by 
night, rather than jolt all the way to Kioto in a 



A TRIP TO KIOTO. 197 

jinrikisha. The canals of the city connect with 
the river, and as our hotel was located near the 
main canal we determined to take a moonlight 
trip to Kioto. 

Accordingly we chartered a Japanese gon- 
dola, such as the natives used at Ozaka, and 
transferred our baggage to it, adding a supply of 
provisions for the long journey which we had in 
prospect after we should leave Kioto. The sun 
had just set as our boat pushed off and quickly 
made its way up the canal ; a soft haze slowly 
settled over the city, and as the full moon came 
out it gave almost an enchantment to the scene, 
and to the weird dwellings on the banks, which in 
sober daylight are none of the prettiest. 

Continuing on a mile, we passed numerous 
bow-shaped bridges, the extravagantly high 
arches of which were more convenient for the 
mast of our boat than for the muscular ease of 
the jinrikisha coolies, who are obliged to draw 
their passengers over them. The bridges are 
quite a feature in this city of canals, and add not 
a little to the quaintness of the views. 

The night had fairly set in as we reached the low 
but picturesque craft, which I have styled a gon- 
dola ; it was waiting in the stream for us, and 
having transferred ourselves and baggage to the 
cabin-like place which had been prepared for us, 



198 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

the boat moved up the river. There was plenty 
of space inside, though the cabin roof was 
scarcely four feet high ; and stretching ourselves 
on the floor, to make up in length what we lacked 
in height, we looked out of the windows at the 
curious sights by the way. The evening was 
warm and pleasant, and thousands of people had 
gathered on the river in boats, to enjoy the cool 
breeze, in preference to promenading the narrow 
and sultry streets of the city. The surface of the 
water for a mile or more was covered with small 
crafts of every description. Some had old folks, 
smoking their pipes and taking their ease ; others 
had family groups sipping their tea together ; 
others again had numbers of merry young people 
who were evidently out for a frolic, and enliv- 
ened the air with laughter, music, and talk. Each 
boat carried two or three lanterns, and some were 
decked with whole strings of light, with various 
colors. So numerous were the gay crafts that it 
looked like a moving constellation as they passed 
backwards and forwards. Now and then the 
small skiff of a fruit-seller would be seen darting 
in and out between the large boats, and the tempt- 
ing array of melons and peaches, illuminated by 
a paper lantern, would be offered to the various 
occupants, who were already enjoying their tea 
and other refreshments. A few fireworks were 



A TRIP TO KIOTO. 199 

let off on the river-bank by the juveniles, and 
these combined with the reflection of the hun- 
dreds of lights on the water gave a brilliant effect 
to the scene. 

But the sight on our own craft was by no means 
the least interesting part of the entertainment, 
for scarcely were we comfortably settled, than 
the boat began moving up stream at a wonderfully 
rapid rate ; and the mode of its propulsion was 
among the most novel and characteristic things 
we had seen in Japan. Eight men armed with 
stout poles, twelve or sixteen feet long, would 
start together at the bow of the boat, each with 
his pole braced against his shoulder ; and then, 
with a yell, they would plunge their poles against 
the shallow river-bed, and rush together towards 
the stern, making the boat fairly jump on its 
course. On both sides of the boat the raised 
gunwale of stout timber was cut with broad 
notches to fit the feet of the men, and, as they 
kept step with each other their nimble motions 
from one end of the boat to the other had all the 
effect of a machine. It was ludicrous to us who 
satwithm.to see this continuous procession of 
naked legs passing to and fro, for our windows 
bemg low, we could see the biped extremities of 
the human propellers with the least possible 
clothmg. 



200 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

However, they had a right to keep as cool as 
possible, for never did mortals work harder ; and 
notwithstanding the difificulties of the current, 
and the shallowness of the stream, they tugged 
at their poles with a vigor and perseverance we 
have never seen equalled. 

We continued up stream until nothing was in 
view but low meadows of long rank grass skirting 
the river bank. Our men toiled on, pushing 
their poles with as much vigor as at the outset, 
until coming to a place where the bank was low 
and level they suddenly ran the boat close to the 
shore and jumped off ; and while we were won- 
dering what it meant to see all the nimble legs 
disappear at once, we felt ourselves impelled by 
a new form of motion. 

We went on top of the little cabin to take a 
view of the situation, and found the men about 
forty yards ahead of us, tugging away at a long 
rope attached to a short mast near the centre 
of the boat. This rope could be lengthened or 
shortened by a crank turned by the steersman, 
who with one hand guided the boat well out into 
the stream, and with the other accommodated the 
rope to the distance from the shore. It was a 
novel sight, from our perch on top of the cabin, 
to watch the men appear and disappear as they 
rushed along the path behind the tall grass and 



A TRIP TO KIOTO. 20T 

cane-brakes ; sometimes we would sight an- 
other gondola, and then there would be a 
scramble and race to get ahead of it. There 
were some queer fouls in these races, but our 
boat always came out ahead. Boats from the 
opposite direction kept in the middle of the 
river, and were carried down by the current. 

The night was still and clear, and the moon 
shone full and bright ; the cool of the evening was 
in pleasant contrast to the heat of the preceding 
day, and as we sailed quietly along, the scene was 
like a picturesque panorama. At midnight we 
went below and crawled in the cabin window, 
where I stretched myself on the floor and was 
soon fast asleep. 

I awoke at sun-rising, and saw the poor don- 
key-men still shouting and tugging far ahead. The 
river was now quite shallow, and sand-bars were 
on all sides. Though the boat was flat, it was diffi- 
cult to make the few miles that remained. But 
the men worked well, either pushing at the poles, 
pulling at the ropes, scrambling through the grass 
and bushes, or jumping into the water, as emerg- 
ency might require. I have never seen human 
beings labor more persistently than did these 
eight men through this long night's toil, stopping 
neither to rest nor to eat. 

At last we arrived at Fushimi, the suburb of 
26 



202 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

Kioto, where we disembarked, and took jinrik- 
ishas ; it was still early as we rode within the 
limits of the Mikado's old and mysterious cap- 
ital. 

We spent a week in Kioto, at a beautiful sum- 
mer resort on the hillside overlooking the city ; 
we visited all the points of interest, and enjoyed 
our stay exceedingly. 

Kioto, above all other places in Japan, is the 
city of temples, and to mention half of them 
would be out of the question. Most of them are 
large, and their grounds are laid out on a magni- 
ficent scale ; many have noted historical associa- 
tions. 

The ancient palace of the Mikado, which has 
always given the chief sacredness to the city, is 
located within a large enclosure near the upper 
end of Kioto ; the grounds are in the form of a 
parallelogram, and contain a number of buildings 
with peculiarly-shaped roofs. No other build- 
ings in the empire are allowed to have this style 
of roof, except the shrines and temples of the 
Shinto sect. The Mikado was worshipped as 
the Tenno, or Son of Heaven ; his head must 
therefore be protected by a Shinto roof, and his 
very residence became sacred. No paint was 
ever used about the royal dwellings, but the 
wood-work was of fine grain, and kept clean and 



A TRIP TO KIOTO. 20 



o 



polished. Sometimes the ends of the rafters 
were tipped with white, but this was the only- 
color permitted, and gave a pretty checkered 
effect when used on the dark beams of the gate- 
way and roofs. 

Behind the palace proper is a large square gar- 
den or park also enclosed by walls, containing 
spacious dwellings ; here his Mysteriousness 
might retire if he chose, and live a peaceful pris- 
oner, after giving up his duties of state to his 
successor. 

All the interest connected with Kioto, as be- 
ing the royal residence of the Tenno, has of 
course departed since the removal of the Mi- 
kado's person and his capital to Tokio. 

Kioto contains nearly 300,000 inhabitants ; its 
streets are laid out at right angles, and are as re- 
gular as those of Philadelphia. 

Of the hundreds of temples visited, I will only 
mention that of ** Kiyo-Midzu,*' or clear-water. 
This temple is splendidly situated ; it was built 
about A.D. 798, and is considered among the most 
sacred spots in this neighborhood. It is ap- 
proached by long slopes of stone steps. At the 
entrance of the temple is a pagoda, and along the 
edge of the buildings are high balconies or stages 
which overlook the slope. The priests and peo- 
ple were at worship while we were there, and the 



204 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

beating of drums made a continuous din. The 
high stages are partially protected by projecting 
rails, as they overlook a depth varying from loo 
to 200 feet. 

Within recent times it was customary for eccen- 
tric individuals, who did not want to go to war, 
to come and throw themselves off this precipice, 
preferring to die before the temple of their deity, 
rather than be killed in battle. 

Descending by a winding path from the stages, 
we came to the waterfall of the ** Clear- water, * ' 
which is divided into three streams by stone 
troughs projecting from the edge. Underneath 
is a small shrine in the rock, and hither pilgrims 
come to worship, and bathe in the sacred waters. 

We took a bath there ourselves, but it was with 
difficulty that either of us could stand more than 
a few seconds under one of those solid streams 
of very cold water, which fell upon one like a 
liquid hammer. And yet, soon after coming out, 
we saw three men stand for eight or ten minutes, 
each with his head bowed forward towards the 
shrine, and the stream of v/ater falling upon his 
neck and back, while he devoutly counted his 
beads, a string of which he held between his hands, 
and repeated prayers either for his own purifica- 
tion or for the healing of some sick friend. Some- 
times persons will stand underneath this fall for 



A TRIP TO KIOTO, 205 

a longtime, as a kind of penance for sin; and even 
in winter persons will kneel there, praying for sick 
relatives, till they are almost benumbed. The 
priests pretend that cures have been wrought 
through the efificacy of these waters. 

The largest bell we have ever seen in Japan 
was suspended near one of the temples adjoining 
our quiet hotel. The bell was made of fine 
bronze, and was more than ten feet high and 
nearly five feet in diameter ; it was immovable, 
as all Japanese bells are, but was struck on the 
side by a suspended beam of wood, pulled "back 
and forth by a dozen men. No sound can be 
more pleasant to the ear than the deep booming 
tones of one of these bells ; I do not wonder 
that the people love to listen to the solemn note, 
that may be heard on a still night for a circum- 
ference of many miles. 

Our last evening in Kioto was passed in watch- 
ing the merry scenes along the shallow river-flats, 
where the people congregate in large numbers to 
spend the warm summer evenings. The river-bed 
is mostly a dry gravelly waste, with streamlets 
flowing here and there through narrow channels. 
A fresh breeze may always be found here during 
the sultry evenings, and numbers of small plat- 
forms or stout tables are placed in the shallow 
portions of the river, upon which the people sit 



2o6 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

and enjoy themselves. The tables are connected 
with innumerable restaurants which line the river 
bank, and busy waiters bring fish,, soups, tea, and 
saki down the sloping walks to the guests. 

The delicacy always in the greatest demand 
consists of fried eels, which are consumed by the 
dozen. I walked into some of the noisy kitchens 
where business appeared rather brisk ; fires were 
blazing and kettles were steaming, while baskets 
of live eels were brought in and skinned, cooked, 
and served piping hot in an incredibly short 
time. The jolly multitude appeared to enjoy 
their eel-feast exceedingly ; and saki bottles 
were also emptied and replenished with marvel- 
lous rapidity, the boisterousness and merriment 
increasing in due proportion. It was the first 
noisy crowd I had yet come across in Japan. 

But the scene was really brilliant, as we stood 
on the substantial brick-paved bridge which is 
the Nihon-Bashi of Kioto, and which marks the 
beginning of the Tokaido. As far as the eye can 
reach, thousands of lights flicker and sparkle 
along the shallow river flats, and thousands of 
well-dressed people are trying to enjoy them- 
selves. Each light or lantern is the centre of a 
little group, and each group occupies its own little 
table, so that the great concourse is but a mul- 
tiplication of social circles of every description. 



A TRIP TO KIOTO. 207 

Here sit half a dozen old men smoking their 
wee pipes around a brazier, and discussing the 
business items of the day. Here a cheerful fam- 
ily group are seated, the father chatting with his 
neighbors of the nearest table, and the mother 
(busy as usual) mending some small fabric ; the 
boys toss tempos, and the baby sprawls on the 
floor after an orange. Near at hand may be seen 
young fellows having a merry time with their 
*' musume '' companions. 

The fashionable young Japanese is quite a 
feature in his way. He sits with loose flowing 
dress, and sleeves tucked up at the shoulders, 
with long-hilted sword in the background, gos- 
siping merrily with the pretty lasses who look on 
him admiringly. The young ** musume'' who 
sits gracefully on the table beside him is sweet 
and pretty, but not loth to flirt a little by wav- 
ing her long silken sleeve. She is one of the 
belles of Kioto ; is considered very handsome, 
and knows it. Her hands are quite small and 
white, and never did any thing more arduous than 
play the '*koto'' or *' samisen/' Her feet are 
clad in bewitching little socks cloven at the toe, 
and ready to slip into the bright lacquer shoes 
which stand on the stepping-stone. Her *' obi,'' 
or sash, is of broad blue silk, fringed with golden 
lace, and streaming down behind in true court 



2o8 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

style. Her little wallet is embroidered in rich 
fantastic figures, and her paper parasol is light 
and fragile as a reed. Her hair is done up in the 
most approved Kioto fashion, which differs from 
that of the rest of Japan in being brushed up 
straight over the forehead, and after being held 
in place by sundry gold and tortoise-shell pins, 
projects several inches behind, over the freshly 
powdered neck. The face is fair and smooth, 
the lips brightly tinted, the eyes dark and 
slightly sad, and the teeth so beautifully white 
as to make the idea of blackening them seem 
horrible — as the married women often do. 

Leaving this constellation of lights which twin- 
kle like myriads of stars all the way up the river- 
bed until far into the night, we wend our way 
homeward across the bridge, and through streets 
which are decorated with flags and lanterns. 

The neighborhood of our hotel abounded in 
tea-houses, mineral baths, and places of amuse- 
ment. Music and laughter could be heard on all 
sides, and as we retired to sleep the merry prat- 
tle still went on about us. We were wafted off 
to dream-land, lulled by the plaintive melodies of 
old Japan. 

We left Kioto in the morning amid the bows 
and regrets of our kindly Japanese host and his 



A TRIP TO KIOTO, 209 

pleasant family, and walked seven miles over the 
hills to the beautiful Lake Biwa. 

I placed the young Japanese who was with me 
in a **kango/' as he was a little fellow, and 
might have been fatigued by the long walk. His 
name was Isami Kawamura, and he was but four- 
teen years of age ; he had studied at Ann Arbor, 
Michigan, and only returned from America two 
months before. He had evidently been a great 
pet with his schoolmates at Ann Arbor ; and I 
do not wonder they fell in love with him, for he 
was the brightest and prettiest Japanese boy I 
ever met. He was full of fun, and it was quite 
an amusement to me and my American friend to 
get Sammy, as we called him, to entertain us 
in talking about the nice things he had left at 
Ann Arbor, for which he evidently felt homesick. 
He was full of the schoolboy spirit of frolic. He 
spoke English perfectly, and used so many droll 
expressions and American idioms, which I had 
not heard since leaving home, that his tongue 
kept us in continual good-humor. 

As we journeyed over the hills he made us 
merry telling of his experiences with the boys and 
girls in America, and he said it was very hard for 
him to come back to Japanese customs, food, and 
mode of living, after being used to such a comfor- 
table American home as he had at Ann Arbor. 

27 



2IO LIFE IN JAPAN. 

The stout coolies who carried him in the 
kango Hstened to his lively conversation, and 
wondered what it all meant. He would joke them 
in Japanese occasionally, which only increased 
their curiosity. 

On top of the kango in the picture is the .flat 
straw hat sometimes worn by the coolies. These 
men are very muscular, and will carry the kango 
for hours without fatigue. 

On arriving at the town of Otsu, at the southern 
extremity of Lake Biwa, wx put up at a pleasant 
house overlooking the lake, and spent a quiet 
Sabbath here. 

Monday morning we started up the lake in a 
tiny steamer built and managed by the Japanese ; 
the boilers of these little boats sometimes ex- 
plode, but fortunately did not do so on this oc- 
casion. 

Lake Biwa is nearly fifty miles in length, and 
is by far the largest lake in Japan. It is also 
the most beautiful. After sailing forty miles, we 
landed at Hikoni, a picturesque village at the 
upper end of the lake. Here we spent several 
days, making excursions around the lake and 
among the mountains ; the view from the high 
castle of Hikoni is one of the finest in Japan. 

The journey from Lake Biwa to the base of 
Fuji-Yama and the Hakone mountain pass occu- 



A TRIP TO KIOTO. 211 

pied one week, during which we travelled 350 
miles in jinrikishas. It was a most interesting 
trip, but we encountered three days of severe 
rain-storms on the way, and crossed many small 
rivers. The longest journey was that which we 
attempted on the first day : we left Hikoni by 
moonlight, at two o'clock in the morning, and con- 
tinued travelling until ten o'clock at night, arriving 
at the city of Nagoya, at the head of a large bay, 
which may be seen in the outline map. The dis- 
tance traversed on this day was seventy-five 
miles ; and that too on muddy roads, in jinrik- 
ishas pulled by men ! Of course we sometimes 
changed the men. 

Nagoya is a flourishing city containing 120,000 
inhabitants, and noted for its manfacture of 
china-ware, and elegant cloisonne enamel-ware, so 
much admired in America. Beautiful silk em- 
broideries are also produced here, and artistic 
fans. The Nagoya castle is very large. On two 
of the towers there used to be immense fishes 
made of copper, and covered with plates of gold. 
One stormy night a robber attempted in a gale of 
wind to mount into the air by means of an im- 
mense kite, and steal the gold scales from one of 
the fishes ! He was caught, condemned, and 
boiled to death in oil ; the raising of large kites 
was afterwards prohibited. One of the fishes was 



212 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

subsequently taken down and sent to the Vienna 
Exhibition ; the other I saw at the Japanese Ex- 
hibition in Tokio. It was more than six feet 
high, with its golden tail upright. 

Nagoya may be seen on the map, nearly ninety 
miles west of Shidz-u-o-ka, on the line marking 
35 degrees of latitude. Kioto and Lake Biwa 
may also be found near the same line some dis- 
tance further west. (In reading and travelling, 
it is always well to consult the map of the coun- 
try studied.) 

We passed through Shidz-u-o-ka, wet and 
wearied, after four days of drenching rains and 
muddy roads, and a great many experiences I 
have not time to narrate. 

Beyond Shidz-u-o-ka, the rivers which I had 
crossed many times before were now swollen with 
the flood, and utterly impassable. So we char- 
tered a Japanese junk and sailed across Suruga 
Bay. The junk had two masts and four sailors. 
A strong breeze was blowing, and we were soon 
scudding along at a rapid rate, under full sail. 
At first it was glorious ; but ere long the big 
waves came rolling in from beyond the stormy 
Cape Idzu, and we rocked helplessly in the bottom 
of the boat ! Wind and tide had no respect for 
our feelings, and the farther we receded from land 
the more the breeze freshened. 



A TRIP TO KIOTO. 213 

We ploughed through the water, scattering the 
spray in all directions, while at regular intervals 
a huge wave larger than usual would strike us 
fairly on the beam, and for the moment we 
thought we were going to the bottom. Jap boats 
are not very strong, and ours would shake and 
shiver as though ready to come to pieces ; while 
ever and anon a shower of salt water would dash 
over the side to cool the situation. 

More hideous than the noise of the waves were 
the shouts of the Jap sailors ; the more the wind 
blew the louder they yelled, until they seemed 
like demons in the storm. 

Finally we came into smooth water, having 
made thirty miles in three hours. The scene was 
really romantic as our boat struck the beach on 
the upper end of the bay, and we jumped ashore. 
High and gloomy peaks surrounded us on three 
sides, and on the south was the sea, breaking 
along the rocky beach in low, dull swells. Dark 
and threatening clouds hung on the adjacent 
mountains, and night was slowly creeping on us ; 
here and there lights could be seen in the fisher- 
men's huts. 

An hour's climbing along the rocky cliffs, with 
the waves murmuring below us, and our narrow 
path lit by a single lantern, brought us to the 
open road leading to the city of Numadz. I was 



214 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

known and welcomed here ; but it was eleven 
o'clock before we reached our hotel, and were 
fairly asleep. The next day we reached the fam- 
iliar Hakone mountain pass, where we found many 
friends from Yokohama. 

Hakone village had become quite a summer 
resort for the foreigners, and we remained here 
some time, enjoying the pleasant society and de- 
lightful excursions on the lake. 

When we entered the village after our long 
trip we were surprised to see American ladies 
coming up the shaded avenue of pines, dressed in 
summer costume and wearing bewitching sun- 
bonnets ; they were the first foreign ladies we 
had seen for some time, and we looked at them 
with delight. 

The streets of the village were swarming with 
children as usual, and mothers carrying their 
babies on their backs stared at us with the 
vacant expression peculiar to the common peo- 
ple. Sometimes the babies had little red caps 
on their heads (as I have before mentioned), 
which I once mistook for ** liberty caps," but 
which I found to mean small-pox ! 

The accompanying picture shows the mode of 
carrying the baby. 




MODE OF CARRYING THE BABY. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE MISSIONARY OUTLOOK. 

A FEW years ago, in journeying along the high- 
ways of Japan, the traveller would see at the 
entrance of every village and near the cross-roads 
a wooden edict-board hanging where every passer- 
by might read it, upon which was written in large 
characters, '* The evil sect called Christian is 
strictly prohibited/' This law No. 3 was suspend- 
ed by the side of other laws against stealing, mur- 
der, and insurrection, and, like them, was formerly 
punishable with imprisonment and even death. 

Why should the Japanese consider Christianity 
a criminal offence, worthy of punishment, when 
we believe it to be a blessing, and see in it the 
highest joy, love, and salvation ? The answer is 
simply this : 

In the sixteenth century, when Europeans first 
came to Japan, the Jesuit missionaries accom- 
panied the traders, and succeeded in converting 
the southern provinces to the Roman Catholic 
faith. So successful were they, that a little later 



2l6 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

they entered into a conspiracy with some of the 
disaffected daimios, and attempted to overthrow 
the government of the Tycoon, and make Chris- 
tianity the state rehgion. The conspiracy was 
discovered, and hundreds of Jesuits and Roman 
Cathohc priests were banished from the country ; 
a terrible persecution of the native converts also 
followed, in which tens of thousands perished by 
fire, sword, and crucifixion. 

Christianity, so called, was swept from the land; 
its very name was written in blood, and children 
were taught to trample upon the cross. The 
edict-board which I have mentioned was written 
at that time, and placarded throughout the empire. 
Foreigners were expelled, and ** the foreign reli- 
gion*' prohibited. The Japanese of later days 
looked back upon that bloody chapter in his 
country's history, and learned to associate the 
** Yesu followers*' with ideas of intrigue, rebellion, 
and things worthy of contempt. He held Christi- 
anity accountable for the evil actions of the men 
who professed it ; and he regarded the edict-board 
which daily met his eye as a righteous barrier 
against the dangerous sect. 

Three centuries rolled away, when at last Com- 
modore Perry's ships appeared and again opened 
Japan to foreign intercourse. As in former years, 
the missionary accompanied the merchant and 



THE MISSIONARY OUTLOOK, 217 

trader ; but this time the light of the pure Gospel 
of peace began to break upon the darkened pagan 
empire. American missionaries settled at Nagasa- 
ki, and afterwards at Yokohama and other ports ; 
they did not bring the altars, candles, and cruci- 
fixes of the Jesuits, but proclaimed the simple 
story of the Scriptures. 

Great prejudices had to be overcome, however ; 
the name of Jesus had long been misunderstood, 
and the ominous edict-board still prohibited the 
** evil sect.'* Little progress was made at first, 
for the people were afraid, or openly opposed to 
the new doctrines. Even as late as the year 1872, 
Japanese who attended my Bible-class in Shidz-u- 
o-ka said they were astonished to find Christianity 
such a good thing, and so pure and exalted in its 
teachings, for they had been taught from child- 
hood that it was evil and corrupt. They were so 
glad, they said, to learn that it was the true reli- 
gion, of peace and charity, rather than evil. 

Long and patient labor was required before 
this popular prejudice could be even partially re- 
moved. In the progress of events, however, the 
odious law against Christianity was taken down 
from the public highways, by order of the govern- 
ment, never again to be replaced. 

So great was the feeling of thankfulness and 
Christian exultation at this result, among foreign 

28 



2i8 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

missionaries and others, that I obtained posses- 
sion of the original edict-board which had so long 
hung up in my own Province of Suruga, and sent 
it home as a trophy and relic, to show friends in 
America the last vestige of religious persecution. 

This weather-beaten board travelled eight 
thousand miles, by itself, and is perhaps the only 
one which ever left the country. After it had 
gone the local governor who had given it to me 
tried to get it back again ; but I replied that 
Japan had no further use for the law, and that I 
had sent it to America for safe preservation ! 

The missionary work, which was slow and diffi- 
cult at the outset, has received a new impulse 
within the past few years, and much good has 
been accomplished at the five open ports, and in 
some districts of the interior which Christian men 
have been able to reach. As the provinces have 
not yet been freely opened to foreign intercourse, 
however, most of the missionary interests still 
centre about Yokohama, and here many of the 
missionaries reside. 

In March, 1872, Rev. Mr. Ballagh organized 
the first Protestant Christian church in Japan. 
The church edifice, now completed, stands in 
Yokohama, on a portion of the ground where Com- 
modore Perry made his treaty in 1854; and the 
first thousand dollars given towards the erection 



THE MISSIONARY OUTLOOK, 219 

of the church was sent by the Christian converts 
of the Sandwich Islands ! 

The following year, in 1873, a Christian church 
was organized in Tokio, on the sanie basis as the 
Yokohama church. 

Converts gathered by the missionaries of vari- 
ous denominations made up the membership of 
these ** union " churches ; and the Japanese 
wisely adopted their own method of church gov- 
ernment, adapting their Christian polity to the 
necessities and circumstances of their own coun- 
try. This independent course, which is the rea- 
sonable one, will be followed by other churches 
yet to be established. 

Native pastors and evangelists are at present 
being trained in a Union Theological School just 
started in Tokio. The only hope of completely 
evangelizing a country is by means of a native 
ministry who can preach the Word of God to their 
own people and in their native tongue. Foreign 
missionaries must lay the foundations, however, 
and may implant spiritual influences which will 
widen and strengthen in coming years. 

The most interesting and successful mission- 
ary work I found at Yokohama is that of the 
'* American Mission Home,'* situated on *' the 
bluff overlooking the beautiful bay and harbor. 
The * * Home' ' was established by three ladies sent 



2 20 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

out by the Woman*s Union Missionary Society, 
and aims to educate and train Japanese girls in 
Christian truth, teaching them the religion of 
Jesus, which "elevates woman to a position she has 
never been permitted to attain in the pagan coun- 
tries of the East. 

I often visited the Mission Home and enjoyed 
its kind hospitality ; bright faces and a warm 
welcome were sure to greet the stranger at the 
door. It was a pleasure to see all the comforts 
and refinement of a truly Christian home placed 
on Japanese soil, and to meet groups of little 
Japanese girls, bright and happy, enjoying all the 
privileges and instruction which love and Chris- 
tian care could afford. 

In the accompanying picture the grounds and 
main building of the Mission Home are given. 
The three ladies above mentioned are seen in the 
garden. Mrs. Pruyn, of Albany, is seated on the 
left of the grass plot ; Miss. Crosby, from Pough- 
keepsie, is in the carriage ; and Mrs. Pierson, of 
Chicago, is seated at the side of the house. 

Opposite this building is a new school-house, 
not seen in the picture, in which the first Sunday- 
school in Japan was established. The week-day 
school was also held here, which always opened in 
the morning with religious exercises. It was a 
very pretty sight to see the children gathering 



THE MISSIONARY OUTLOOK, 221 

with their books and slates for school, and hear 
them sing the opening hymn in English, and 
then in Japanese. Mrs. Pierson accompanied 
them on the cabinet organ. The scholars were 
very smart at their studies, and compared favor- 
ably with Japanese youth of the sterner sex. 
Sometimes I brought down my chemical appara- 
tus from Tokio and showed them experiments, 
greatly to their delight. On questioning them 
afterwards, I found they always remembered the 
principles explained. 

Adjoining the school-house is another building 
of two stories, recently completed ; here the 
smaller children and orphans are cared for by 
Miss Guthrie, formerly of the Calcutta Mission. 

At the extreme left of the picture Rev. Dr. 
Brown's house is seen, with a broad, sloping roof. 
Dr. Brown has been over eighteen years in Japan 
as a faithful missionary, and is at present associ- 
ated with Dr. Hepburn and others in the transla- 
tion of the Scriptures. 

The noblest life-work of Dr. Hepburn has been 
the preparation of the Japanese-English diction- 
ary, which is an invaluable aid to students and 
missionaries in acquiring a knowledge of the two 
languages. 

The missionary field in Japan is in many 
respects pleasanter that in other countries of the 



22 2 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

far East, such as China and India. The Japanese 
are more sympathetic and cordial than the major- 
ity of Asiatic people, and the climate of the 
country is one of the finest in the world. The 
mission cause is in its infancy, however, and 
many laborers must yet be sent to sow the seed 
of future spiritual harvests. Noble men have 
labored here in the past, in the midst of danger 
and discouragement ; and the record of modern 
missions in Japan, though brief, is filled with 
honest Christian endeavor and unselfish zeal. 

A stranger might say, '* What is the use of con- 
verting the Japanese people to Christianity ?*' It 
is often argued that they are well enough off in 
their present condition. As a people, they certain- 
ly excel us in politeness, gentleness, obedience to 
parents and superiors, and in social manners are 
our peers. They have also a culture and native 
refinement that surprises the foreigner ; and their 
sense of honor is at least equal to that of the aver- 
age American. Some of our customs, to them, 
are far from being desirable traits of civilization. 
The common people of Japan, with their simple 
wants and frugal ways of living, are at least as 
happy and contented as the corresponding class 
of society among us. Buddhism teaches them 
various virtues, restrains them from excesses, 
costs them little trouble or expense, and seems 



THE MISSIONARY OUTLOOK, 223 

to meet their present religious necessities. Why, 
therefore, press Christianity upon their accept- 
ance, causing them to relinquish all the sacred 
legends of the past ? 

Our reply is, that whatever culture may be 
possessed by the higher classes of the Japanese 
people, even their lives on earth would be bet- 
ter, their hopes brighter, and their passive exist- 
ence elevated and quickened, by the incoming 
of Christianity. The religion we present to them 
is not a mere myth like Shinto, or a bewildering 
form of worship like Buddhism, nor yet a callous 
moral code like Confucianism. It is the very life 
of the soul ; it breathes into men a new being, 
and warms the heart with a new glow of love to 
God the Father of all. In the face of Jesus 
Christ, it solves the baffling mystery of life, 
points to hope and happiness beyond the grave, 
comforts the sorrow-stricken and discouraged soul, 
and gives peace and even joy, in the midst of suf- 
ferings that all mankind are called upon to bear. 

Above all, Christianity brings salvation. 
Leaving out of view the benefits and blessings 
derived from it in this world, it means deliverance 
from eternal death. This life is a very small 
thing, when compared with the life beyond ; and 
the possibilities and privileges of that life for us, 
all centre in the person and work of Christ. 



2 24 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

The Japanese belong to the same sinful, tempt- 
ed, sorrowing race, as ourselves, and they stand 
in need of the same Redeemer. ** And how shall 
they believe in him of whom they have not 
heard ?' ' Or how shall they hear, unless the 
missionary be sent to proclaim the glad tidings ? 
Christ's own command is, to carry the Gospel to 
every creature ; and he well knew that every peo- 
ple on the earth had 7ieed of it. 

We know not God's mysterious plan concerning 
the pagan millions who yearly pass into eternity, 
nor how far divine mercy and infinite compassion 
may be exercised in their behalf ; but we do 
know that God's word commands us to carry the 
Gospel to every member of our guilty race, and 
that the divine presence is promised in so doing. 

In glancing over a letter written when about 
commencing my bible-classes in Tokio, and when 
unusual difficulties appeared in the way, I find 
this statement concerning my students : ** I con- 
fess that when the feeling floods upon me, that 
these are souls for whom Christ died, and mine is 
the privilege to make the fact known unto them, 
it breaks through all bounds of mere expediency, 
and forces me to speak the truth at all risks. ... 
There is a solemnity beyond expression, in the 
attempt to bring before these young men the 
words of eternal life." 



THE MISSIONARY OUTIOOK. 225 

The very avidity with which the story of the 
cross was received by some, and the self-righteous 
air with which it was rejected by others, both 
served to show that at least grace and the Gospel 
were needed. 

In Japan, as in every other country, some hear 
the word gladly, and believe ; others listen with 
utter indifference, or openly refuse the way of 
salvation. At one moment the heart of the in- 
structor would be gladdened by the words, '* Sir, 
please teach us to pray by ourselves ;'* or, ** Sir, 
these are golden truths, and we thank you for 
them." At the next moment, a curling lip, and 
a skeptical remark from another source, would 
show that seed was being sown on stony 
ground. 

Light and shadow blend together in the mis- 
sionary's experience, but still his duty is to 
** preach the word.*' I once saw this illustrated 
on a long trip with Rev. Mr. Ballagh, in our first 
attempt to ascend Fuji-yama. We were passing 
through a village near Oyana mountain, where 
a dread deity is said to reside. Here we encoun- 
tered a procession of people dragging a huge 
cart with long ropes. Upon the cart was a 
pagoda-shaped tower, decorated with flags and 
streamers, in which were dancing men wearing 

hideous masks of foxes, demons, and ghosts. 

29 



2 26 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

Drums were loudly beaten, and the people shout- 
ed to drive away the evil spirits. 

As the people caught sight of the two foreigners 
the procession halted and the drums ceased, for 
we were great curiosities in this out of the way 
region, and even the dancing foxes looked slyly 
at us. 

Mr. Ballagh was always ready to seize an op-- 
portunity for sounding the gospel trumpet ; so, 
jumping upon a low balcony, he asked the people 
in a pleasant way what this all meant. They said , 
it was the day set apart to propitiate the evil 
deity of the mountain, who sent all the woes and 
suffering upon the people, and little foxes to des- 
troy their rice crops. This deity sometimes 
assumed the form of a great serpent, and naught 
could be expected from it but evil, 

The missionary listened to their explanations, 
and then raising his voice said : ** There is a ser- 
pent that brought evil into the world, and suffer- 
ing upon the human race ; but he does not live 
in yonder mountain, nor can his cruel power be 
broken by noisy processions or the beating of 
drums/' Then with great skill Mr. Ballagh told 
the story of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, 
and the temptation and fall of man, closing with 
the solemn question, ** Is there no deliverance or 
salvation from the power of this evil one ?" 



THE MISSIONARY OUTLOOK. 227 

The people could not answer. Then he 
explained to them with great tenderness the 
wonderful plan of redemption ; saying, that God 
had given a promise in Eden, which was fulfilled 
'in Jesus Christ, and that now, all who believed 
on Him might be saved. 

Immediately there was a division in the multi- 
tude ; some were deeply moved, and wished to 
hear more, but the others beat their drums and 
called upon the people to take hold of their ropes 
and drag the cart and dancing foxes. The priests 
pulled the people away from the preacher, and 
the noisy but diminished procession went on its 
way, dragging with difficulty the heavy cart. A 
few remained and listened to the word with in- 
creasing interest, until I reminded Mr. Ballagh of 
the lateness of the hour, and we continued the 
journey. 

A few days subsequent to this, I saw the same 
missionary go up to the open door of a temple, 
and by his winning eloquence, and fluency in Ja- 
panese, turn the assembly of Buddhist worshippers 
away from their idols. The next Sabbath the 
priests of this temple came to our hotel, and list- 
ened for two hours to an earnest presentation of 
Christian truth ! 

It would be a pleasure to give a lengthened 
sketch of missions in Japan, but I have not space 



2 28 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

to do so in this little work. I will, therefore, close 
this chapter with a few explanations of the accom- 
panying plate, of the Lord's prayer in Japanese. 

It is a fac-simile of Matt, vi : 9-13, in the gos- 
pel recently issued by the Translation Committee 
at Yokohama. The orginal of this plate was 
prepared in New York, by the American Bible 
Society ; and it is the fairest specimen of printing 
in Japanese that I have seen produced outside of 
Dai-Nippon. 

In reading the prayer, a person should com- 
mence at the right-hand column and read down- 
wards. Some of the characters are seen to be 
square and more compact than the rest. These 
are Chinese words, which are introduced into the 
writings of Japan in the same way that Latin 
terms are frequently used in English. In this 
case, each Chinese word is explained by a few 
simple Japanese characters, written in small type 
on the right margin. This is necessary to enable 
the common reader to properly understand the 
meaning. 

The Chinese literature has been studied as a 
classic for many centuries in Japan ; but only the 
Samourai, or two-sworded men, were permitted to 
become scholars, also the priests. The common 
people could only read the simpler forms of pure 
Japanese, which language remained quite unde- 









;5 



^ 

L^ 



n. 







( e) 



^ 



^ n % l> 



r^4 ^ 
^« it 

^ ^ v^l 



THE LORD'S PRAYER, JN JAPANESE* 



THE MISSIONARY OUTIOOK, 229 

veloped. In publishing the Scriptures, therefore, 
to the people, a difficulty arises from the lack of 
a suitable language, which may be equally well 
understood by all. If the missionaries translate 
the Bible with the frequent use of Chinese char- 
acters, it places it entirely beyond the use of the 
masses ; though its literary merit is elevated in 
the eye of the Samourai, so that it claims scholarly 
respect. If it is translated in the purely Japanese 
dialect, it becomes simple and apparently childish, 
and has little merit with the higher class ; in fact, 
it is impossible to properly express spirtual truth 
in a language so immature, and so filled with 
crude mythological terms as the pure Japanese. 

The translators are forced, therefore to strike a 
balance between the literary or classic language, 
and this simple but insufficient Japanese vernac- 
ular. This is accomplished by using as few Chi- 
nese terms as possible, and then explaining them 
in the margin so that common people may under- 
stand. Hence the use of the small letters to 
which I have referred. 

I wish this Lord's prayer could be circulated in 
the country by thousands of copies, for it is a 
gospel in itself, and no tract more appropriate 
could be issued. Nothing appears less under- 
stood to a Japanese mind than the nature and 
meaning of prayer. This '* talking to God '' is a 



230 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

great mystery, and I was frequently called upon 
in my Bible-classes to explain, or attempt to ex- 
plain, how we could reasonably and hopefully 
look to the Invisible One and say, " Our Father 
which art in heaven/' 

Some of my students once asked me to please 
write a prayer for them ; and what could better 
meet their wants in this respect, than that which 
came in response to the humble request of the 
early disciples, ** Lord, teach us to pray/' 



CHAPTER XII. 

FAREWELL TO JAPAN. 

Shortly after returning from the trip to Kioto, 
I was called upon to bury my faithful servant 
Sam Patch. 

It was somewhat remarkable that he died ex- 
actly three years from the day I first engaged him, 
and that my contract with the Japanese Govern- 
ment expired about the same date. 

Though an associate of humble capacity, Sam 
was faithful in his own little sphere, and he was 
the only individual who remained uninterruptedly 
with me during my sojourn in the country. He 
had been unwell before I started on the Kioto 
trip, and I sent him to the Tokio hospital, where 
he had good care. But he was imprudent in 
leaving the hospital too soon, so as to have my 
house in good order on my return. 

I sent him back to the hospital, and visited 
him one evening, and took to him the sad news 
that he must shortly die ; for his diease — the 

kaki, ' * a kind of dropsy peculiar to the Japanese, 



2 32 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

was approaching his heart. The poor fellow was 
never very brave, and he cried a little ; for he 
thought he was getting better. I tried to comfort 
him with his Christian hope, and then bade him 
good night. The next day he was dead, and 
when I came to the house where he had been re- 
moved, he was already placed in the Japanese 
coflfin ! 

To give some idea of the Japanese mode of 
treating the dead, I will briefly state how Sam's 
remains were disposed of ; but his case differs 
from others, in that I gave him a Christian form 
of burial, becoming his former Christian profes- 
sion and the simple trust in Christ which he 
seemed to have to the last. 

Immediately after death, and before the body 
became rigid, he was placed in the ordinary 
square coffin, with head bowed and knees doub- 
led up and crossed in front, causing him to occupy 
a space so small as would appear incredible. 
When I first went into the room it was nearly 
midnight, and I had a flickering candle in my 
hand. Seeing a box scarcely three feet square in 
the corner of the room, I was told that it con- 
tained all that remained of poor Sam. Raising the 
lid, I glanced in and saw what appeared a shape- 
less bundle, with hand or foot projecting here 



FAREWELL TO JAPAN. 2 2^:^ 

and there ; and this was the comfortless manner 
in which the Japanese usually bury their dead. 

Sam's face, when raised, was calm and natural, 
and in his hand was a Testament which I had 
given him the year before, and which his wife 
had placed there to be buried with him, though 
whether at his request or not I do not know. 

The little funeral occurred the following day, 
and I telegraphed Rev. Mr. Ballagh to attend ; 
but as he was out of town, Rev. Mr. Thompson 
officiated, using the Japanese language. At the 
conclusion of the service, the hearse, which is a 
temple-shaped cart, five feet high, backed up to 
the door, and the sides and roof being taken off, 
the square box was pushed inside. The hearse 
was then put together again by piecemeal, and 
two old men drew it off, amid the sobs of some 
and the smiles of others. 

Then came the queerest funeral procession in 
which I ever participated. Sam's wife and another 
woman were placed in a jinrikisha behind the bier ; 
and then came my friends, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur, 
who had been very kind to Sam during his sick- 
ness, and finally Nakamura and myself brought 
up the rear in a third jinrikisha. Slowly this droll 
procession moved up the main street or Tori of 
Tokio, attracting great attention, from the fact 
that no foreigners had ever been seen with such a 

30 



234 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

curious structure as that on the cart, and the 
people were at a loss to know what such a funeral- 
train meant. 

The place of burial was two miles and a half 
distant, and I tried to hurry the old men who 
drew the temple-cart. But they were either too 
lazy or too dignified to run, and the big cart 
was very heavy, owing to its large roof. At last 
we moved on at a jolting rate, that nearly shook 
the hearse and its contents to pieces. The road 
seemed interminably long, and it was dark when 
we reached the ground of the large temple in the 
suburbs of the city, where I had secured a plot, 
and caused a grave to be dug that morning. 

I had intended burying Sam beside my inter- 
preter Shimojo, who had died the year previous, 
and whose tomb was not far from this spot. But 
strict regulations had recently been issued re- 
specting the burial of persons within the city 
limits. Therefore I accepted Nakamura's offer to 
bury Sam beside the tomb of Nakamura's ances- 
tors at the temple just mentioned, situated beyond 
Khristien zaka, or '* Christian slope.'* 

Arriving at the temple, I stopped the hearse at 
the main gate, and hurried forward to see if the 
grave had been dug as I directed. Fumbling my 
way through the compact rows of ancient monu- 
ments and head-stones, in the gathering dark- 



FAREWELL TO JAPAN, 235 

ness, I stumbled on the freshly turned earth, and 
found the deep square hole prepared as had been 
promised. 

Coming back I met Mr. Arthur who found that 
the grave-yard was so cold and damp that it would 
be imprudent in his state of health to remain 
longer. So I thanked him and his good and ami- 
able wife, and advised them to return, saying that 
it was too chilly for them, and I would bury poor 
Sam alone. (My good friend Mr. Arthur died of 
consumption only a year or two after this.) 

Bidding them good night, I turned towards the 
temple, and was surprised to find it illuminated, 
and to hear a Buddhist service going on within. 
Stepping up to the porch and entering, I found a 
tastefully decorated apartment with mats and pol- 
ished floors, and solemn-looking labyrinths be- 
yond the dark line of pillars. Two finely robed 
priests sat upon a raised dais before the altar, in- 
toning their prayers in a rapid and measured '^ay, 
which struck me as being a funeral d*'ge ; they 
took no notice of me as I stood in tb .. shadow of 
the hall, looking on. The altar was a beautiful 
object, ablaze with tapers and shining with the 
gilt idols and golden leaves of the lotus lilies. 
Incense was burning before it in a bronze brazier, 
and the pleasant fragrance slowly filled the temple. 
But what attracted my attention was the white 



236 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

covered square box, placed directly in front of 
the altar, with a tall stick or tablet standing 
against it, having a name written upon it in Chi- 
nese, which I could not understand. Of course I 
knew that this box contained a dead person, but 
who it was I did not at the moment imagine. 

I was simply awaiting the removal of my own 
box from the hearse, and certainly intended no 
heathen rites to supplement the Christian service 
already held. But getting suspicious finally that 
** something was up,'* I stole by the priests and 
went silently up to the altar. 

There, sure enough, was 7ny box, with Sam's 
body in it, for it had the same bunch of flowers 
and bamboo reed upon it, which had been placed 
on the lid. My first impulse was to stop the ser- 
vice ; for, without my knowing it, they had 
brought the body in, while I was in the grave- 
yard, and had commenced their heathen rites as 
usual. As I afterwards learned, the sinjo^ or pres- 
ent of money, which I had previously given the 
priests, made them polite and particularly anxious 
to do the thing up well. 

As I looked at the priests, and then at Sam's 
wife and the other woman kneeling on the floor, 
who seemed to be taking great comfort in the 
ceremony, I thought I would let it continue, es- 
pecially as we were the only persons in the tem- 



FAREWELL TO JAPAN. 237 

pie. I sat upon a mat under the shadow of a 
pillar, and for once the Buddhist service seemed 
solemn to me. The priests intoned finely and 
earnestly, the little bells chimed in harmoniously, 
and now and then a deep-toned drum broke the 
strain of the continual repetition of *' Na-mi-ho 
Ho-ren-gi-ko." 

I knew that Sam would not have highly indorsed 
this service himself, neither was it exactly com- 
patible with the doctrines of the Testament with- 
in the coffin which stood before the heathen altar. 
Nevertheless, there was a novel interest in the 
scene, and as the service was soon completed, the 
chief priest bowed, and led the way to the ceme- 
tery, still repeating strange sounds, and wearing 
his silken robes. The bearers followed with the 
square box, which was safely lowered into the 
grave. The cemetery was lit up by the glare of 
the torches and lanterns ; and as the priest retir- 
ed I leaned upon a gravestone, and waited to see 
the grave properly filled. 

A man was still in the hole, and I saw him 
striking the box with his shovel. On being asked 
what he was doing, he replied that it was some- 
times the custom to break in the head of the 
coffin and fill it with earth ! I told him he might 
dispense with that operation this time, and fill up 
the grave immediately, which he did. 



238 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

Thus ended poor Sam^s earthly career. His 
widow sent me a request for money to buy in- 
cense to burn before the tomb. 

Over Sam*s remains I caused a stone cross to 
be raised, upon which were inscribed the simple 
words, SAM PATCH. 

My engagement with the Japanese Government 
was twice renewed at shorter intervals of several 
months, but as I did not feel that my life-work 
was to be in Japan, I made preparations toward 
the spring of the year to start homeward. 

I arranged to leave in March, as I supposed I 
could then accomplish my long-desired tour 
through India before the hot season fairly com- 
menced in that country. In this latter respect I 
was mistaken, however, for I fell into the very 
hottest season of the tropics. 

On March 7th I met many of the students of 
the Kaisei Gakko, at a farewell gathering held in 
Dr. Veeder's house, as my own house was now in 
disorder with packing-boxes and trunks, and we 
all spent a pleasant evening together. 

At the close I made the students a little speech, 
expressing my sorrow at parting, and giving them 
encouragement and hope for the future. I urged 
them to continue diligent both in their scientific 
and their religious studies, and to attend the 
Bible-class which Dr. Veeder had now opened for 



FAREWELL TO JAPAN, 239 

them, and which would continue the work of Sab- 
bath-evening instruction. 

They all seemed to feel deeply in reference to 
my departure, and also manifested no little awe 
at the formidable journey before me. One stu- 
dent, who was a most regular attendant upon my 
Bible-classes, but who formerly opposed Christi- 
anity, said to me, ** Sir, we shall never meet 
again in this world, but J trust we shall meet in 
heaven." He then asked me to write my name 
and his own in a Bible and hymn-book which I 
had given him. Another student said, ** Sir, you 
have taught us great and beautiful things, both in 
science and in religion ; and we are very thankful, 
and will never forget your kindness.** Others 
said, ** We wish you a happy time in your long 
voyage, and we know not where we may ever see 
you, but we hope somewhere.'' 

Such expressions as these were heart-warming, 
and showed that the Japanese students were still 
as kindly affectionate and grateful as I had ever 
found them during nearly four years* intercourse 
and instruction. 

At the close of the evening a short prayer was 
offered, and the students sung a hymn. 

The next day, my American friends General 
and Mrs. Williams gave me a farewell dinner, at 
their elegant residence near the Treasury Depart- 



240 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

ment. I then paid my parting respects at the 
American Legation, and started for the railroad 
station. 

At the Tokio depot quite a little ovation was 
given to me, which was at once a surprise and a 
delight. Over one hundred students walked two 
miles to the station to bid me good-by ; they 
were accompanied by the second officer of the 
Kaisei Gakko, who made me a pleasant little 
speech. I told some of the students of the first 
scientific class that I should expect to meet a few 
of them in New York when I arrived there from 
Europe. The prophecy seemed like a dream to 
them, but it was fulfilled a year later, and they 
were really studying in the Columbia School of 
Mines when I arrived in New York. 

It was a moment not to be forgotten when the 
space was cleared between myself and the cars, 
and I passed through the line of students and 
jumped upon the train. After bidding them a 
final " saionara,'' the whistle sounded, and half an 
hour later I found myself in Yokohama. 

The day following, Hatakeyama, the director of 
the college, came down from Tokio, and gave me 
another farewell dinner at the Grand Hotel. He 
was very kind, and as affectionate as ever. I 
spent the last hour on shore in talking over ** old 
times'* with him, and in making plans for the fu- 



FAREWELL TO JAPAN. 241 

ture. He said that he would meet me the second 
time around the world at the Centennial Exhibi- 
tion in Philadelphia, and that he would come 
via San Francisco. 

He subsequently fulfilled his promise in coming 
to America, but I missed him by just one day in 
New York, and afterwards failed in seeing him at 
the Centennial. He was very sick at the time, of 
consumption, and started homeward shortly after- 
wards, via Panama. But he died on the Pacific, 
a few days before the steamer reached his native 
land ; and though he was a member of the 
Christian church, he was buried in a Shinto ceme- 
tery in Tokio, with the most imposing pagan 
honors ! 

Thus one after another of my Japanese friends 
have been taken away by death. 

The steamer Behar sailed from Yokohama at 
four o'clock. I was accompanied on my journey 
by Mr. and Mrs. Ballagh, and Mrs. Pruyn, of the 
Mission Home, who were going as far as Nagasaki 
to see me off. I also gave my chemistry assistant 
a trip to Kobe, and then sent him to Kioto. 

The voyage to Kobe was not so rough as the 
one previously described, and the sail through 
the inland sea of Japan was delightful. The pas- 
sage of the inland sea occupied a little more than 
twenty-six hours, and was fully as varied and 

31 



242 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

beautiful as we anticipated. It contained all the 
panoramic effect of river scenery with the vastness 
and solemnity of the sea. At one point it broad- 
ens into bays and gulfs, stretching away as far as 
the eye can reach ; and at another it tapers down 
to such narrow limits that there scarcely seems 
room enough to pass. As one island after another 
was left behind it still revealed an open stretch 
of sea beyond, ^nd each bay and inlet had so 
many branches, that it appeared an unlimited 
archipelago, combining the beauties of the country 
with the wildness and majesty of the ocean. 

The provinces bordering the inland sea have 
always been populous, and in old feudal times 
many strong castles towered in defiance along 
these shores. Some of their white walls and de- 
serted parapets could still be seen, glistening 
through the dark-green foliage. Usually a large 
town or village would be seen nestled on the 
shore near the castle. 

The eastern entrance of the inland sea is oppo- 
site the Ozaka Bay, and is simply a narrow strait 
not a mile in width. The western or lower en- 
trance is situated at the Straits of Shimonoseki, 
which may be seen on the outline map, opposite 
Corea. Our steamer stopped at the town of 
Shimonoseki some hours, and we all went ashore 
and rambled over the hills. But the place is of 



FAREWELL TO JAPAN^ 243 

/ 
no particular importance, except that it was here 
that the old Japanese forts were located which 
fired upon certain foreign shii5s a few years ago, 
and thus gave rise to the '' Japanese indemnity/' 
No great harm was done, however, and our 
government had no right to force Japan to pay 
$700,000 into the U. S. Treasury. 

In olden times a very important naval battle 
was fought near this point by Japanese junks 
filled with armed men. 

South of Shimonoseki, the city of Saga will be 
seen on the map, where the insurrection quelled 
by Okubo occurred, and where he beheaded my 
young friend Katski. This minister Okubo has 
himself since been assassinated in Tokio, and 
buried at the same Shinto cemetery as Hatake - 
yama. 

At the south-western extremity of Japan is the 
city of Nagasaki, which has been open to foreign 
intercourse longer than any other point. To 
reach this place from Shimonoseki we passed 
through the straits into the open sea, rounding a 
bleak and rocky coast, until we came in sight of 
the coal islands of Taka-Shima, which stand near 
the entrance of Nagasaki Harbor. On sailing up 
the narrow and cliff-girt harbor we passed close 
beside the rocky islet of Papenburgh, from whose 
steep heights the persecuted Christians were once 



244 LIFE IN JAPAN, 

thrown into the sea. The harbor is a narrow arm 
of the sea, stretching eight miles inland, and not 
more than a mile in breadth. It is completely 
enclosed by broken ranges of hills, diversified at 
the upper portion of the harbor by cultivated 
fields, shrubbery and trees, native houses and huts, 
foreign residences, myriads of junks, and all that 
characterizes a native and foreign settlement. 
Long lines of shipping usually lie at anchor here, 
including steamers and men-of-war. The city 
contains about 33,000 inhabitants. 

I only had a few hours to spare at Nagasaki, 
for here I was to bid farewell to my companions. 
The afternoon was rainy, and I spent it in tramp- 
ing around with my friend Rev. Mr. Stout, a mis- 
sionary of the Reformed Church. We both wore 
rubber coats and boots, and with such an excel- 
lent guide I soon visited the chief points of in- 
terest. We explored ** Dezima, '* or made-land, 
a square enclosure of three acres at the water's 
edge, where the Dutch traders lived during the two 
hundred years in which they alone were allowed 
commercial intercourse with Japan. It was de- 
cidedly suggestive of the olden times to walk 
around these Dutch-looking buildings, and the 
stone warehouses which line the water front, and 
think of the sober, old-fashioned Hollanders who 
used to pace back and forth here at eventide. 





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FAREWELL TO JAPAN. 245 

smoking their pipes, and watching for their ships 
from Holland. 

In the suburbs of Nagasaki we visited some 
very pretty gardens and summer residences, where 
I purchased a few pictures, while Mr. Stout talked 
pleasantly with the people. The grounds were 
laid out in the ordinary Japanese style, with gold- 
fish ponds, foot-bridges, dwarfed trees, and airy 
pavilions, like that seen in the accompanying 
illustration. 

Behind the native quarter of the city there is a 
temple with groves and immense camphor-trees. 
The trunk of one of these trees measured thirty- 
five feet in circumference. Here are buried five 
hundred and eighty soldiers, or nearly all of those 
who perished in the recent Formosa expedition. 
Most of them died in sickness, and only a few in 
battle. Their graves are ranged in rows of 
twenties and forties, and the regular lines of tomb- 
stones, divided off into sections or companies, 
present a sad and impressive appearance. 

The last place visited was the Roman Catholic 
chapel, located half-way up the hill-slope, and 
facing the valley of Ura-Kami, where so many 
Christian converts were persecuted. The interior 
of the chapel is dim and solemn, and well calcu- 
lated to impress the Japanese converts with awe. 
Near the altar were two colossal paintings, repre- 



246 LIFE IN JAPAN. 

senting scenes of martyrdom at the time of the 
severe persecutions at Nagasaki. One of these 
pictures in vivid colors the crucifixion of some 
two hundred converts at once, upon the moun- 
tain of Campeera, ^' God of the sea/' a bold bluff 
overlooking Nagasaki Harbor. Beyond this 
mountain there are boiling sulphur springs, called 
by the natives ** Little Hell/' Into a large open 
pool, boiling and steaming like a natural caul- 
dron, it is said that Christians used to be cast 
who refused to give up their faith. With these 
horrible vats, and the rugged precipice of Papen- 
burgh at command, the persecutors did not lack 
in natural facilities for torture. 

But the hour for my departure drew near as 
evening came on. I took tea at Mr. Stout's, and 
spent the early part of the evening with my 
friends. Mr. Ballagh and other missionaries kind- 
ly gave me a *' general epistle," commending me 
to the various missionary brethren I might meet 
on the long journey before me. Then I was 
committed to the watchful care of Providence, 
and amid mingled feelings of regret and hopeful 
anticipation I bade my friends farewell. 

As I reached the steamer, all was quiet on 
board, and the rain-drops were pattering on the 
slippery deck. The night was dark, and the wind 
whistled mournfully through the rigging as I went 



MAY 2 4 1948 



FAREWELL TO JAPAN. 247 

below. At early dawn the steamer was sailing 
down the harbor, bound for Shanghai, China. 
The Japanese sun-flag floated at the stern, for the 
vessel belonged to the new Japanese line of the 
'' Mitsu-Bishi '' Company. 

I looked out of the cabin window at the murky 
waters of the Yellow Sea, and realized at last that 
I was face to face with all the dread uncertainties 
of a long and lonely journey around the world. 



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